Kenisha Berry is behind bars for the death of her newborn baby boy, Malachi Berry, also known as “Baby Hope,” whose body was found inside a dumpster by residents in Beaumont, Texas.
In November 1998, a couple collecting aluminum cans from a dumpster made a grim discovery when they looked inside a black trash bag and saw a dead baby boy.
Authorities immediately responded to the scene and observed that the baby appeared to have been a newborn and had duct tape over his mouth.
The body was eventually handed over to the medical examiner’s office for an autopsy to determine the identification and cause of death.
An autopsy later revealed that the baby, whom the community named Baby Hope, died from asphyxiation.
The medical examiner concluded that the baby was alive when he was placed inside the trash bag and thrown into the dumpster, as defecation was found inside the bag.
MRT reported that if the baby were dead before he was discarded in the dumpster, he “would have released his bowels before or during death, but not after.”
It was also determined that the baby, who could not be identified, had been fed milk twice since he was born.
Detectives worked diligently to find the person responsible for the baby’s death. They collected DNA samples from the trash bag and duct tape, but the suspect’s name wasn’t in the system.
The case eventually turned cold.
Five years later, in June 2003, another newborn, a baby girl named Paris, was found in a ditch covered in ants.
She was alive but was sent to the hospital, where she underwent treatment for nearly a month.
AP News reported that the baby developed seizures that were brought on by the ants.
After receiving a tip, authorities identified Kenisha as Paris’ mother, and she was arrested and charged with child endangerment.
When Kenisha directed detectives to a dumpster, where she discarded some of the evidence, they remembered Baby Hope because his body was found inside the same dumpster.
Detectives questioned her about the baby’s death and asked if she would be willing to submit a DNA test, and she agreed.
The results revealed that she was the mother of Baby Hope, whose real name was Malachi Berry, and he was four days old at the time of his death.
It was also uncovered that the fingerprints found on the duct tape matched her left index finger.
Kenisha, who was 25 years old at the time of the killing, was booked into the Jefferson County Jail with an additional charge of capital murder.
Her bond was set at $1 million.
An investigation revealed that Kenisha had three other children with a man named J. Love. When she became pregnant with Malachi by another man, she hid her pregnancy and delivered him at home while her children were at school.
When they returned and saw the baby, she told them she was babysitting for a friend.
Kenisha never admitted to killing her baby, but she reportedly told Child Protective Services (CPS) worker that after borrowing her grandmother’s vehicle, she put Malachi in the trunk.
She then drove to a dumpster and threw him inside.
Kenisha said she thought her baby was dead because he wasn’t moving or making sounds.
When she became pregnant with Paris by another man, she once again concealed her pregnancy and attempted to abandon her.
In February 2004, a jury found Kenisha guilty of killing her newborn baby boy. A judge sentenced her to death, but it was thrown out in 2007 by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.
Kenisha’s sentence was later amended to life imprisonment.