The now 23-year-old told investigators the unexpected birth “didn’t hurt” and that after the baby was born she “just looked at him” until he stopped crying, then went and took a shower, leaving him lying where her mother found him deceased.
A woman who allegedly sat in her bed and watched herself deliver a baby — and then just continued watching until her son stopped crying — is likely facing decades behind bars for her lack of involvement in his short life.
Bianca R. Desouza, 23, pleaded guilty Thursday to one count of aggravated manslaughter and one count of neglect of a child causing great bodily harm. The plea is in relation to the birth and subsequent death of her child on May 2, 2022, when she was 19 years old.
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On that day, at 4:56 p.m., the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call of an unresponsive infant at a residence in West Boca Raton, Florida. The call was made by the baby’s grandmother, who found him lying in her daughter’s bed after the teen had apparently given birth unexpectedly three hours prior.
According to People’s coverage at the time, Desouza was laying in another bed in the home when her mother found the baby. And when her mom told her to call 911, per the outlet, Desouza told her that her phone was going to die.
The baby was rushed to West Boca Medical Center but was declared deceased shortly after arrival. In her initial statement to police, Desouza said that “the birth happened quickly” and that she had held her son until he stopped crying. Then, she said, she left him on the bed and went to take a shower. At no point, she told authorities per a probable cause affidavit reviewed by Law&Crime at the time, did she call for any aid.
She told investigators that she “did not know [her baby] was dead until her mom came in,” per that original document. But the medical examiner and subsequent interviews painted a more complete picture of alleged apathy on the part of Desouza throughout the birth and short life of her son.
After the incident, Desouza was checked into Fort Lauderdale Behavioral Health Center, per Law&Crime, where she opened up about a history of depression and self-harm. She told investigators that she had stopped taken her prescribed Lexapro, an antidepressant developed to help regulate mood and emotional balance, two weeks prior to the incident, per the report.
Her mother insisted to investigators that she believed her daughter “did something to the baby,” thinking it could have happened during “some kind of psychotic break,” but Desouza has vehemently denied this. Her mother said she lives with psychosis and bipolar disorder.
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The young woman spoke with investigators after her release from the facility on May 11, 2022 where she insisted she did nothing to harm her baby. But she also admitted she kind of did nothing through the whole unexpected delivery of her baby, either.
When asked if she knew how her baby died, investigators wrote that Desouza said she “didn’t know but wants to.” She was also asked if she did something to her baby and she reportedly replied, “No, I would never hurt him.”
Desouza told investigators that she was surprised and “really confused” to suddenly find herself in labor, but that the delivery itself “didn’t hurt,” per the court documents. After the baby was born, though, she told them she “just sat there” and watched as he cried. She said she “didn’t know what to do” and so “she just looked at him” until he ultimately stopped crying.
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Investigators asked why the baby stopped crying, and she said that she was unsure as she feel asleep at one point and when she woke up he had stopped. She thought he was sleeping, she explained, per the filing, saying that “she didn’t put him on his side because she was afraid to touch him.”
“I just didn’t do anything and I’m so mad,” Desouza told investigators, per the affidavit. “It was like my body stopped working.” When asked what she would do differently if she could go back, the defendant told investigators she “would have called for help.”
It was also revealed that Desouza and her husband had been planning to have the baby induced just one day after its unexpected arrival. After initially considering terminating her pregnancy, she and her husband had been talking about giving the baby up for adoption, per Law&Crime. Her mother told investigators her daughter was also stressing over failing to find a suitable home for the baby.
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The baby’s death was ultimately ruled a homicide by the Palm Beach County medical examiner’s office with the cause asphyxiation due to “chest compression.” The M.E. note that the baby had been born through the leg hole of a pair of boxer shorts Desouza kept on throughout, which likely caused the baby’s face to be pressed against her thigh during delivery.
According to People, Desouza had admitted to investigators that she was wearing shorts and that she had “pulled [them] to the side during birth” so that the baby “came out of the right side of her shorts.” The baby still had the shorts around its torso when first responders arrived.
The medical examiner’s report reads that the defendant “did not attempt to move herself, remove clothing, reposition the baby, pick up, comfort, seek medical attention, or otherwise care for the child,” concluding that she “did not attempt to create an environment where the neonate could breathe without restriction during the birth process and failed to ensure his wellbeing after being born.”
Desouza now awaits sentencing on January 29, 2026, per Law&Crime, where she is looking at up to 45 years, with a minimum possible term of just fewer than 15 years.
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