34-year-old mother dies in Heraklion police cell days before trial for abandoning newborn in bin

Death in custody

On Sunday, June 21, a 34-year-old woman was found dead inside her cell at the Heraklion Police Directorate, days before she was to appear in court. She had been transferred from Korydallos prison to Heraklion on Saturday, June 20, for a trial that some local media said was set for Tuesday. Police sources reported that she went to sleep on Saturday evening without mentioning any health concerns. During the night she woke once to use the bathroom and returned to bed. When officers tried to wake her on Sunday morning, she did not respond. A medical crew was called but could only confirm the death. Authorities are treating the event as a sudden fatality and an autopsy will be performed to determine the exact cause of death. Her death occurred while she was in temporary police detention, not in a prison cell.

The 2025 abandonment case

The pending trial originated from an event in May 2025 that had deeply shaken the community of Heraklion. The woman, who had a history of chronic drug dependency, gave birth alone at her home in Ano Alikarnassos. She placed the newborn inside a blue plastic garbage bag and abandoned the baby in a trash bin located in the nearby industrial area, close to the police headquarters. Her partner, who was undergoing gender transition and unaware of the pregnancy, came home to find her lying in a pool of blood. He immediately called the National Centre for Emergency Care (EKAV). Paramedics attended the scene, quickly realized she had just given birth, and began a search. One of the rescuers found the infant alive inside the bag in a bin about 250 metres from the house. The baby was taken to hospital and survived. The incident caused widespread shock across Greece at the time.

Mental health and detention

Giorgos Karoutsos, the woman’s lawyer, said he was stunned by the death.

“The deceased was a special case of a human being.”

He revealed that psychological assessments had placed her IQ at 48–50 and that she had been diagnosed with schizophrenia. From the beginning of the case, Karoutsos had submitted a request for her to be held in the psychiatric unit at Thiva prison rather than in the regular Korydallos correctional facility. The request was not accepted, and the lawyer argued that her mental and physical health worsened as a result of being kept in a standard prison. He had been scheduled to meet her on the day of her death to discuss the trial strategy.

Investigation and next steps

Police are currently investigating the death as a sudden incident. The body will be examined by a forensic pathologist to clarify whether the cause was pathological or attributable to other factors. The case has prompted questions about why she was held in a police holding cell rather than in a facility better equipped to manage her health needs.