Michigan woman charged with the death of her newborn child

A woman in Northern Michigan named Lynzee Sanders has been charged with involuntary manslaughter after she admitted to authorities that she wrapped up her newborn child and hid her daughter in a shed in October of 2009. The child was found in May of 2010 after two boys discovered the baby's body after it had been removed from the shed by a dog. The article also mention's Michigan Safe Delivery of Newborns Act which allows mothers to legally surrender their newborn children.

Test results from a DNA diagnostic center in Ohio indicated Sanders was the mother of the dead infant. Sanders then told investigators she gave birth to a live baby girl last October but believed the infant died shortly after delivery, court records show.

Area authorities investigated four infant death cases in recent months, including the most recent dead baby found in a backpack Tuesday in Boyne City. The spike in infant deaths prompted authorities to increase promotion of safe options for mothers during pregnancy, including the Safe Delivery of Newborns Act.

The act took effect throughout Michigan in 2001 and allows mothers legally to surrender their infants within 72 hours of birth to an emergency service provider. They can request anonymity and refuse to answer questions when they drop off their infant at a hospital, police station or fire department.

"It certainly is much better than what we've been experiencing," said sheriff's Capt. Dave Meachum. "It's a great, nonviolent option."

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