The 29-year-old Redwood City woman whose dead newborn was discovered in an apartment dumpster last week did not enter a plea Friday to involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment charges while the Coroner’s Office awaits final lab results that might pinpoint an exact cause of death.
Hilda J. Figueroa appeared in court for the second time with her appointed attorney and listened to the brief proceedings through a Spanish interpreter. She remains in custody in lieu of $100,000 bail and was ordered back to court Jan. 4 to enter a plea and set a preliminary hearing date.
By that time, toxicology and histology — the study of dead tissue — should be back, according to Coroner Robert Foucrault who estimates some definitive answers by the middle of next week.
While Foucrault and prosecutors admit they may never know exactly what killed Figueroa’s newborn daughter or how long she stayed alive after birth, neither changes the fact that the baby took in air prior to being wrapped in plastic and placed in the dumpster.
Figueroa told San Mateo Medical Center staff Nov. 30 she was several months pregnant but miscarried at her home. Figueroa claimed she flushed the stillborn and premature fetus down the toilet. After an exam proved Figueroa was likely lying, Redwood City police detectives went to her home in the 600 block of Buckeye Street and found the plastic-wrapped newborn in the dumpster
Figueroa then admitted she had concealed her pregnancy and secretly gave birth at home the previous day. She said the baby was dead at birth because she never saw it draw breath before setting it in the dumpster. However, the autopsy showed air in the baby’s lungs and prosecutors added the involuntary manslaughter charge.
If convicted of the charges, Figueroa faces about six years total if the sentences run concurrent. The majority of the term comes from the endangerment charge; involuntary manslaughter carries about four years in prison.
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