OCEANSIDE — A murder charge was dismissed on Nov. 16 against an Oceanside woman whose newborn died after she gave birth alone at her apartment.
Prosecutors contended Kelsey Carpenter, 33, failed to properly care for her infant girl following her unattended home birth in November 2020.
They alleged Carpenter wanted to avoid going to a hospital as she feared her baby would be removed from her custody due to drug use, as had occurred with her other children.
However, an updated state law that went into effect this year held that women could not be criminally liable for the outcome of certain decisions affecting their pregnancy, including whether they decided to have a home birth or used controlled substances.
Though a state appellate panel ruled this year that Carpenter could still go to trial for second-degree murder despite the update to the law, the murder count was dismissed on Thursday, and Carpenter pleaded guilty to a felony count of child endangerment.
Carpenter, who previously faced up to 15 years to life in prison if convicted, was sentenced Thursday to two years in prison following her change of plea.
The updated legislation, AB 2223, was signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom one day after Carpenter’s preliminary hearing in the case concluded, in which a judge ordered her to stand trial for murder.
Newsom said in a statement that AB 2223 “helps to ensure that pregnancy loss is not criminalized.”
Carpenter’s defense attorney, Brian White, called the updated law “a real ground-shifter for this case” and said it recognizes the reproductive rights of women to make choices regarding their pregnancies.
White also said the case was representative of systemic issues within the child welfare system that “force women with substance abuse disorders to go underground” when faced with dilemmas like his client’s.
“This is a very tragic situation,” White said. “I don’t think Kelsey should have been charged with murder or any crime.”
Prosecutors alleged the baby bled to death because Carpenter cut the umbilical cord but did not clamp it. She attempted to stop the bleeding with tape but at some point passed out due to her own blood loss from the delivery and when she woke, the baby was dead, court documents state.
White said he was prepared to bring medical experts to trial who, he said, found defects in the child’s placenta. The attorney said those defects would have likely led to the baby’s death even if Carpenter had gone to a hospital.
Prosecutors also alleged Carpenter did not call 911 until after the baby had died, while Carpenter told police she tried to call 911 sooner but her phone’s battery had run out.
At the preliminary hearing, a county medical examiner said she concluded the baby’s manner of death was accidental, but the appellate court panel ruled that even if the death were accidental, “it may still have been caused by an act or omission committed with implied malice,” a necessary element for second-degree murder.
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