By Anne Losensky
She is said to have smashed her baby’s skull and injured it to death by shaking it: The trial against a mother from Nigeria began in the regional court.
Favor B. (26) lived with two small children and the newborn in a shared accommodation for women in Lichtenrade.
The Berlin public prosecutor’s office accuses the rejected asylum seeker of manslaughter. On May 12, 2022, the then ten-week-old girl was found unconscious in her bed in the home, it is said. The child died in hospital two hours later.
According to the investigation, the mother is said to have acted on the baby at least once, “possibly four times,” which resulted in “a star-shaped fracture in the skull bone.”
The indictment states: “Obviously by a push, but possibly also by one or more blows”. She “held the baby in the rib area” and shook it violently.
The result: traumatic brain injury with bleeding in the left optic nerve. She “accepted the death of her child with approval”. The unmarried mother’s other two children were 3 and 4 years old at the time.
Just two weeks later there was an arrest warrant against the mother. It wasn’t until ten months later that she actually went behind bars in March 2023.
She is said to have entered Germany from Nigeria in 2014. In 2016 her asylum application was rejected. She has lived in Berlin since 2021. According to her defense attorney, she “doesn’t want to say anything at the moment” during the trial.
She is said to have said during the investigation that she could not explain the baby’s injuries. The maximum penalty for manslaughter is 15 years in prison.
Four more days of negotiations are planned. Verdict on October 12th.