A woman who threw her newborn baby out of a window because she feared it would negatively affect her career has been sentenced to seven and a half years in prison.
A German woman, Katarina Jovanovic, 28, was found guilty of manslaughter by the Heilbronn District Court this week for killing her newborn baby last September.
She apparently kept her pregnancy a secret and gave birth alone at home. A neighbour said: “No one knew she was pregnant. Eventually she changed and stopped speaking to us. We thought she was just stressed out from work.”
The court heard that a passerby discovered the baby with a shattered skull outside Jovanovic’s apartment in Laufen.
Prosecutors alleged that Yovanovitch, a former legal executive at German car giant Porsche, killed her child by throwing him out of a window in order to protect her own career.
Prosecutor Marieke Hafendorfer Said according to Build“The defendant was not willing to give up her life plans, particularly her professional advancement, for the sake of her children.”
“Before the birth, Katarina J. made the decision to kill her child. The threshold for murder is met,” he argued.
Mother throws newborn daughter out of window to death because she thought having a child would ruin her career as a Porsche executive https://t.co/uaQvY3Jcwm pic.twitter.com/8iiBBQ4Y1K
— Daily Mail Online (@MailOnline) July 5, 2024
Yovanovitch’s lawyers argued that she was unaware she was pregnant and was so startled by the birth that she accidentally dropped the baby out of a window.
Attorney Malte Hawk Said According to Daily Mail“This is a drama that has affected me personally as my client didn’t even know she was pregnant.
“She was in an abnormal psychological state when suddenly she picked up the bloody baby in her arms. It was an accident and she dropped the baby. It is still not clear how the baby ended up on the window sill.”
The court ultimately agreed to the lesser charge of manslaughter, but sentenced Yovanovitch to seven and a half years in prison, more than the three years her defense had sought.
