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A Wilkes-Barre woman has been charged in connection with the death of her newborn baby girl last year.

Investigators say Andrea Sue Litter, 39, gave birth to a child while on the toilet of a Shickshinny-area home on Nov. 2, then wrapped the child in plastic bags and set her outside next to a burn pile, where state police found the infant’s dead body the following day.

An autopsy performed by forensic pathologist Dr. Gary Ross determined the baby died due to a combination of prematurity, asphyxia, hypothermia and hemorrhaging, and the death was ruled to be a homicide.

Litter faces a felony count of involuntary manslaughter. She was arraigned Thursday before District Judge David Barilla, and the charge was waived for Luzerne County Court.

According to an affidavit:

Wilkes-Barre police responded to Wilkes-Barre General Hospital on the morning of Nov. 3, where Litter had been taken for bleeding.

Litter told police she gave birth the previous afternoon on the toilet at her foster sister’s home along Route 239 in Union Township, near Shickshinny. She said she was unaware she was pregnant until she gave birth.

After cuddling the baby, Litter told investigators she walked into the kitchen where she got two white grocery bags from a closet and a clear bag from under the sink. She returned to the bathroom where she placed the baby in the bags, and carried the newborn outside where she placed it on a couch next to a burn pit.

She used five towels to clean up blood on the toilet, tub, sink and floor, and later laundered the towels inside the home, and did not tell anyone there about the birth.

Litter told investigators the baby was still crying when she walked outside and placed the bags next to the burn pit.

Barilla allowed Litter to be released on $100,000 unsecured bail pending further proceedings.

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By Roger DuPuis

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