Mom Set Newborn on Fire in The Middle of The Street Was Sentenced to 30 Years

A mother who set her newborn on fire and left her in the middle of a New Jersey street was sentenced to 30 years in prison in 2016.

Family members, who packed the courtroom, and the defense lawyer pleaded for leniency, argued that 23-year-old Hyphernkemberly Dorvilier had a history of mental illness. They also disclosed publicly for the first time that her pregnancy resulted from a rape.

Before the sentence was handed down, Hyphernkemberly, handcuffed and shackled and wearing an orange prison jumpsuit and sneakers, made a tearful apology.

“I was on a downward spiral. I believe I hit my rock bottom,” she said, occasionally wiping tears with tissues handed to her by a sheriff’s officer. “This tragedy goes against all my morals and values.”

Cook ruled that his term was the “sentence that justice requires.” The baby died from smoke inhalation and third-degree burns over 60 percent of her body.

“The court finds that the crime was committed in the most vicious, heinous and depraved manner possible,” the judge said. Hyphernkemberly had been charged with murder in the December 16, 2015 death of her baby and could have faced life in prison if convicted. “The crime in this case was committed against the weakest of the weak, a helpless newborn. All she knew was the extreme excrutiating pain of being set on fire by her mother, the person who was supposed to love and protect her.”

Hyphernkemberly pleaded guilty last month to dousing her baby with WD-40 lubricating spray and using a lighter to set the girl ablaze on Simontown Road in Pemberton Township that night.

Authorities said Hyphernkemberly drove to that location several hours after giving birth alone in the bathroom of her home a mile and a half away. The baby, whom family members later named Angelica, still had her umbilical cord attached at the time of the fire.

Neighbors who called 911 said they heard the infant crying, and tackled Hyphernkemberly as she tried to run to her car.

Hyphernkemberly initially told a neighbor that she was burning dog feces. When the baby was heard crying, she said the baby was not hers.

Police found the baby wrapped in a smoldering towel and papers. The baby died less than two hours later at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children in Philadelphia.

As a man held Hyphernkemberly down until the police arrived, she repeatedly said “I’m sorry,” according a recording of a the chaotic 911 call.

“I apologize first and foremost for not giving my daughter, Angelica, the life she deserved. She deserved so much better,” Hyphernkemberly said.

Assistant County Prosecutor Robert Van Gilst said a plea agreement was reached because Dorvilier suffered from mental illness and was raped as a child. But he said the sentence was warranted. “This was a helpless child,” he said.

Defense attorney Karen Thek urged Cook to impose a lesser sentence, arguing that Dorvilier’s behavior was “a complete and utter aberration.”

“She was not in her right mind,” Thek said, acknowledging that “no human being deserved what happened.”

Cook said he wanted to deter others and cited New Jersey’s safe haven law, which allows a parent to legally and anonymously give up an unwanted baby up to 30 days old. The baby can be left at a hospital or police station.

“If the defendant did not want to be a mother to baby Angelica, she had other options,” the judge said.

Hyphernkemberly, 22 at the time, hid her pregnancy from her mother and younger sister, with whom she lived. Her parents and about two dozen family members and friends wept throughout Friday’s court proceedings. Hyphernkemberly gave them a tearful wave and blew kisses as she was led away.

Hyphernkemberly’s older sister, Dejennie, who drove from Montreal to attend the sentencing, told the judge that the family supported her and loves “her with all of our hearts.”

“She’s a good person. She needs help. She’s going to think about it every day of her life,” her sister said.

Hyphernkemberly was sentenced on April 22, 2016 to 30 years in prison for aggravated manslaughter. Under the sentence imposed by Superior Court Judge Terrence Cook, Hyphernkemberly must serve 85 percent of the term before she is eligible for parole.

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