Juvenile suspect identified after dead newborn found in Berlin courtyard
A juvenile suspect is in hospital care after the discovery of a dead newborn in a Berlin housing estate courtyard on Wednesday. The infant was only hours old with the umbilical cord still attached, police said.
Discovery
A passerby discovered the dead newborn on Wednesday morning in the courtyard of a residential complex on Réaumurstraße in the Thermometersiedlung of Berlin's Lichterfelde district. The baby was lying visibly on the ground. Emergency services were alerted shortly after 9:30 a.m. (CEDT). An emergency doctor confirmed the infant's death.
We assume that the child was born only recently.
Nath stated the infant was only "several hours, at most a day" old, and the umbilical cord was still attached. The gender was not made public.
Investigation
The 5th murder commission of the Landeskriminalamt assumed control, deploying around 40 officers. Crime scene technicians used laser scanners and secured DNA evidence. A prosecutor attended the site. Investigators searched the entire 13-story building with 38 apartments but found surprisingly few witnesses. One apartment was broken into but yielded no occupants. Police dogs assisted in the search. "We must assume a crime," a police spokeswoman said. The body remained on-site for several hours behind privacy screens before being taken away by forensic services.
Suspect identified
On Thursday morning, the prosecutor's office announced a juvenile suspect had been identified. The age was not released due to personal protection laws. After police measures, the juvenile was placed in hospital care. The investigation remains ongoing with no further details disclosed.
Community reaction
Residents assembled in the courtyard, visibly distressed.
You can't understand it on any level. There are so many ways to safely give away a child. There are baby hatches, you can leave it with the fire department, a neighbor, or the police.
She, along with resident Dennis-Patrick Adam, speculated the infant might have been thrown from a window. Other neighbors confirmed no pregnant woman in the building was known to them.
