15-Year Old Girl Charged with Murder After Baby Found in Dumpster

Jani Morris, a 15-year old girl, is facing murder charges and other offenses after allegedly killing her own baby and throwing the body in a dumpster in North Philadelphia. Local police believe that the newborn baby died from suffocation.

Morris, who has been charged as an adult, is also charged with endangering the welfare of a child, possession of an instrument of crime, and abuse of a corpse. Due to the seriousness of the crime, Morris will likely be held without bail, according to the District Attorney’s office.

Police said a woman, who is a mother of Morris’ friend, informed them that a baby has been placed in the dumpster around 10:30 p.m. on Monday. Police confirmed that they found a newborn baby boy in the dumpster. The baby was brought to Temple University Hospital where he was pronounced dead. Police believe Morris suffocated the baby.

According to investigators, they found Morris with her mother inside their nearby home, where they believe the teen has just given birth.

Neighbors who learned about the news were saddened knowing about the teenage mother who seemed to have no other choice but to kill her baby.

“I just saw a bunch of cops over there, taped off by the lot,” a neighbor, Patsy Ann, told ABC7. “I called my neighbor and they said a baby was found in the lot.”

“It’s hurtful, that’s what it is. Very hurtful,” another neighbor, Dawn Jackson, said. “Maybe she was scared and didn’t know what to do.”

The police said an investigation about the involvement or knowledge of anyone else in Morris’ actions is still ongoing.

“Those are things that investigators will look at, who else may have been complicit. I am not, just to be clear, presuming that that is the case, but that is certainly something that investigators want to understand and get knowledge of,” said Capt. Sekou Kinebrew.