Mother to face trial in July over death of newborn

PORTSMOUTH, Va. (AP) - A July trial date has been set for a Virginia woman charged in the death of her newborn child.

WAVY-TV reported that a grand jury indicted Donita Hawkins Thursday on a charge of second-degree murder. Her trial is set to begin July 11 in Portsmouth.

Hawkins was initially charged in January 2017 after arriving at a hospital with a dead baby. According to police, she said she had smoked crack cocaine and then woke up with labor pains and delivered the baby herself.

According to The Virginian-Pilot newspaper , a medical examiner had ruled that the baby breathed before Hawkins placed it into the bag. The death was ruled a homicide.

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Information from: WAVY-TV, http://www.wavy.com/