SHAMOKIN DAM -- A solemn ceremony for a baby murdered 15 years ago was held Monday night in Snyder County.
The newborn girl known as “Baby Mary” was found in the garbage in Sunbury in 2001.
Her death led to the state's so-called Safe Haven Law.
“A precious life lost too soon.”
It was a somber gathering at the Orchard Hills Memorial Cemetery in Shamokin Dam to remember an infant taken from this world just minutes after she entered it.
“And we remember this child, this precious one, our Baby Mary, our community's Baby Mary,” said Pastor Mark Gittens with H2 Church in Sunbury.
Named by the community as “Baby Mary,” the infant's body was found in the garbage in July 2001 in Sunbury.
Her mother was charged with killing Baby Mary moments after she was born, then throwing her body in the trash, leaving the Sunbury community in grief and shock.
“I just remember it like it was yesterday,” said Lori Gittens. “I can't even believe it was fifteen years already. Baby Mary just had such a huge impact on my heart.”
Northumberland County Coroner James Kelley was the deputy coroner at the time and says the case touched him deeply.
He arranged this vigil to mark the 15th anniversary of Baby Mary's murder.
“Because it was a child whose life was taken by her mother, I think that would really hit anybody. But to be involved with it from the very beginning, it was just something that truly struck at my heartstrings,” said Kelley.
“Fifteen years ago, we were here actually to help bury Baby Mary and remember her life, and we just want to stand and continue. It's our showing that her life really mattered,” said Pastor Gittens.
And Baby Mary's life did matter. Her murder led to the creation of Pennsylvania's Safe Haven Law, which allows parents to abandon their newborn babies at designated drop-off locations.
That law took effect in 2003. Since then, more than two dozen babies were taken to safe havens.
“Their lives have been saved, a little more than two a year. You couldn't ask for anything better,” said Kelley.
Baby Mary's mother was convicted of first-degree murder in 2002.
She is serving a life sentence.
