Philadelphia teen charged with 'voluntary manslaughter' for stabbing newborn to death

The District Attorney’s Office in Philadelphia has charged a teen girl with voluntary manslaughter for the killing of her newborn baby girl. The juvenile’s identity is unknown to the public. 

Key Takeaways:

• A Philadelphia teen is charged with voluntary manslaughter for the apparent stabbing of her newborn baby girl. An autopsy is expected, and the death was ruled a homicide.

• The district attorney pointed out that the teen's mental condition before and after birth remains unknown. She reportedly hid the pregnancy from her family, and the baby girl's gestational age at the time of her death is unknown.

• The investigation is ongoing.

The Details:

The unnamed teenager killed her baby girl shortly after the child's birth in the teen's apartment in the Northern Liberties district of Philadelphia. Police arrived on the scene around 12:52 p.m. on April 25, 2026, and medics pronounced the baby girl dead shortly after 1:00 p.m. 

The medical examiner’s office said that the baby girl had puncture wounds to her chest and ruled the baby’s death a homicide. One source stated that the teen gave birth to the baby girl in the shower, stabbed her six times with scissors, and later hid her in the closet. However, ABC 6 stated that "the official cause of death remains pending an autopsy."

A neighbor of the teen (who wished to remain anonymous) told the news outlet, "It's sickening. It's heartbreaking. It's a baby. It's a baby. If it was intentional, then my heart is in pieces, and I'm sick. She always seemed so sweet, she always said hi to me, had a smile on her face, a really kind girl. I am beyond devastated to hear that."

District Attorney Larry Krasner called it a “heartbreaking incident” and pointed out that the “teenage girl’s mental state both before and shortly after childbirth, when the crime occurred” are unknown.

According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the teenage girl hid her pregnancy from her family. The Inquirer’s source indicated that prosecutors believe that the teen was “overwhelmed with emotion and not in sound mind.”

The Big Picture:

The homicide of an infant within the first 24 hours of life is called neonaticide. As research from the National Institutes of Health shows, these homicides often committed by “young, unmarried women with unwanted pregnancies who receive no prenatal care.”  The same research also shows that “[r]ates of infanticide parallel suicide rates rather than murder rates” indicating that these types of killings most likely involve a profound psychological and emotional factor.

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In the state of Pennsylvania, abortion is legal through 23 weeks and 6 days of pregnancy but requires the permission of a parent for minors seeking abortions. Though the gestational age of the baby girl is not reported, had this teen sought an abortion using judicial bypass to get around the state's parental consent requirement, her baby could have been legally killed in the womb, and the teen might have been celebrated for exercising her reproductive rights. 

DA Krasner, an open advocate for abortion, stated, “The Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office remains committed to individual justice, including individual justice for women and girls of every age.” This seemingly excludes the girls who are living in their mothers' wombs.

The Bottom Line:

The shocking facts of this killing begs one to wonder how a teen, a juvenile herself, is capable of harming someone so small and innocent. While the killing of this baby girl outside the womb is shocking, killing her inside the womb would have been equally as tragic and lethal.

The investigation is active and ongoing.