A woman has pleaded guilty to setting her newborn on fire and leaving her in the middle of a New Jersey street.
Hyphernkemberly Dorvilier pleaded guilty Monday in Mount Holly to first-degree aggravated manslaughter. She had previously pleaded not guilty to a murder charge. Authorities say the 23-year-old Pemberton Township resident doused her newborn with accelerant and set her on fire in January 2015. The baby had third-degree burns over 60 percent of her body and died two hours after she was flown to a Philadelphia hospital.
Authorities say Dorvilier gave birth to the baby shortly before her death, as she somehow hid the pregnancy from her mother and sister. Investigators say the baby was found with her umbilical cord and placenta attached.
A horrified woman who called 911 from the scene told Dorvilier she was ‘disgusting.’ In reply, Dorvilier told the woman, ‘It’s not mine, it’s not mine,’ then said, ‘I didn’t do it, I didn’t do it, I didn’t do it.’ A 911 caller at the time told dispatchers ‘there’s a baby on fire.’ In the background, a man could be heard telling Dorvilier to get down.
‘You’re not going anywhere,’ the man told her. Dorvilier’s first audible words can be heard in which she says ‘I’m sorry.’
‘You just had the baby,’ the 911 caller told Dorvilier. ‘I didn’t know,’ Dorvilier replied. ‘Well, then, who had it?’ the woman asked. ‘How could you do this? You should have dropped it off at the hospital.’ ‘I’m sorry,’ Dorvilier says repeatedly.