BY STAFF REPORT
HONESDALE - The mother of the newborn girl brutally murdered by her father moments after her birth in Wayne County will serve up to 14 years in state prison for her role in the murder.
Jennifer Barrise, 29, was sentenced Thursday to seven to 14 years in prison with a year and 180 days of credit for time served, Wayne County President Judge Raymond L. Hamill ruled. Ms. Barrise pleaded guilty in September to third-degree murder surrounding the May 28, 2011 death of her daughter, Jacqueline Amber Barrise.
Ms. Barrise gave birth to Jacqueline in the car of the baby's father, 21-year-old Christopher T. Fitzpatrick. Mr. Fitzpatrick then drove his newborn daughter - his second child with Ms. Barrise and the sixth she had birthed - to M 'n' D Lawn Care, 1178 Hamlin Highway, Lake Ariel, where he worked.
He carried Jacqueline to a wooded area behind the building and lay her in the brush. He then picked up a cinder block and dropped it on her twice.
After scattering some twigs and leaves around the infant's crushed remains, Mr. Fitzpatrick got back in his car and drove off.
He was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole in May after pleaded guilty to first-degree murder under an agreement with prosecutors that he would testify against Ms. Barrise in exchange for prosecutors taking the death penalty off the table. He told investigators the couple could not afford to keep the baby, and abortion was too expensive.
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