Back in January 2015, a New Jersey mother identified as Hyphernkemberly Dorvilier, 23, gave birth to a healthy daughter at her home. According to law enforcement, instead of going to a hospital, the new mom drove to a wooded area in Pemberton, New Jersey. According to court records, there she doused her newborn with a flammable liquid and set the child on fire in the middle of the street. Curious neighbors saw the flames and confronted the woman, who stated she was just burning dog feces. Then, to the horror of witnesses, the child began to scream in agony. They restrained the woman as she screamed, “It’s not mine. It’s not mine. I didn’t do it.” They called police. In the recording of the frantic 911 call, Dorvilier can be heard screaming, “I’m sorry” as the 911 operator stated, “How could you do this? You should have dropped it off at the hospital.” Police found a can of WD-40 and a lighter in her jacket pocket when she was arrested.
The child was still breathing when paramedics arrived at the scene and life flighted her to a Philadelphia hospital as she’d suffered burns to 60 percent of her body. Authorities stated that the umbilical cord and placenta were still attached to the infant, who later died from her injuries. When police went to the mother’s home they found a trail of blood and Dorvilier was still bleeding from her vagina when she was arrested. Family members stated that she hid her pregnancy and they were not aware of the birth.
Last week she pleaded guilty to charges of aggravated manslaughter and she received a sentence of 30 years at the New Jersey State Prison. Dorvilier must now serve at least 85% of her sentence, or 25 and a half years, before she is eligible for parole. At her sentencing last Friday, she told the court, “I apologize first and foremost for not giving my daughter, Angelica, the life she deserved. She deserved so much better.” Her statement fell on deaf ears as Judge Terrence Cook stated “The crime in this case was committed against the weakest of the weak, a helpless newborn. All she knew was the extreme excruciating pain of being set on fire by her mother, the person who was supposed to love and protect her.”
