A woman has been jailed for seven and a half years after dropping her newborn daughter out of a window because ‘she was worried a baby would ruin her career’.
Katarina Jovanovic, 28, from Lauffen am Neckar, Baden-Wuerttemberg State, Germany, was found guilty of manslaughter at the Heilbronn District Court on Wednesday, July 3.
Judges heard how she had given birth at home in secret 10 months ago on September 12 and then dropped her baby daughter from her apartment window almost 12 feet onto the tarmac below.
Horrified passersby found the minutes-old infant’s body with a shattered skull underneath Jovanovic’s balcony and called the police.
Katarina Jovanovic, 28, from Lauffen am Neckar, Baden-Wuerttemberg State, pictured in court
Prosecutors told the court that Jovanovic (pictured) thought being a mother would spoil her career as an executive in Porsche’s legal department
Jovanovic admitted to the crime at the beginning of the trial in April but could not explain the moment to the court, ASB Zeitung reported.
She also claimed she had not realised she was pregnant. But the prosecution accused her of murder and of deliberately concealing her pregnancy from colleagues and neighbours.
Prosecutors told the court that Jovanovic thought being a mother would spoil her career as an executive in Porsche’s legal department.
Public prosecutor Mareike Hafendoerfer said: ‘The accused was not prepared to put her life plans, especially her professional advancement, on hold for a child.
‘That was her decision when the baby was born, and as a result, the criteria for a murder conviction are fulfilled.’
Jovanovic’s lawyers claimed that it was at most manslaughter as she had accidentally dropped the baby from her hands after giving birth alone at home without realising she had been pregnant.
The newborn was dropped 12 feet out of an apartment window onto the tarmac below (Pictured, general view of the apartment building)
Defence attorney Malte Hoech, 53, said: ‘It is a drama that affects me personally. My client did not even know that she was pregnant.
‘When she suddenly held the bloody baby in her hands, she was in an exceptional psychological situation.
‘It was an accident, she dropped the baby. How the child ended up over the windowsill remains to be determined.’
In the end, the court accepted the lesser charge of manslaughter but jailed her for seven and a half years, which was more than the three years the defence had demanded.
Her legal team said they plan to appeal the verdict.
Neighbours told local media how they had no idea Jovanovic was expecting a baby.
One said: ‘Nobody noticed that the woman was pregnant. Recently she had changed and was no longer talking to us.
‘We thought she was stressed at work.’
