Seattle Woman Charged With Murder In 1997 Death Of Newborn Son

The Seattle woman accused of abandoning her newborn son in gas station trash can is now facing a murder charge, according to KING 5.

Court documents released Tuesday (March 16) identified the woman as 50-year-old Christine Warren of Seattle, who was arrested last week. She was charged with second-degree murder in the infant's death by the King County Prosecutor's Office.

Police were called to a Lake City gas station on November 20, 1997. Employees told authorities they found a dead newborn boy in restroom's trash can. The King County Medical Examiner determined the child was born alive, and police investigated the incident as a possible homicide.

Investigators collected DNA from the crime scene and surveillance video of a woman at the gas station, but they were unable to identify her. Come 2018, Seattle police reopened the investigation after tying information from a public genealogy website to a possible suspect.

Detectives said they got Warren's DNA sample through a fake invitation to participate in a survey. Authorities sent the sample off to the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab for analysis, which matched the DNA taken from the crime scene in 1997.

Warren was interviewed on March 1, where she admitted to being the mother of the newborn and abandoning the baby.

"Warren said her pregnancy was unplanned and the father of the child reacted negatively when she told him she was pregnant, according to court documents," KING 5 wrote. "Warren said she could not handle the idea of having a child and blocked the pregnancy out of her mind, and did not receive any medical care or tell anyone she was pregnant."

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Warren told authorities she was riding in a friend's car the night of the newborn's birth. When she started experiencing cramps, she asked the friend to stop at a gas station on Lake City Way Northeast. Warren said she delivered the boy in the restroom, adding that the baby dropped into the toilet. After leaving him for several minutes, Warren said she panicked, put the baby in the trash can and covered him in debris.

Warren said she didn't think the baby was alive, but added that she didn't check for the child's vital signs before putting him in the trash can, court documents show.

The Seattle woman is in custody at King County Jail on $10,000 bond. Reporters said her next court appearance will be at her arraignment on March 29.

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