A Union City, California, woman has been sentenced to six years in state prison for the 2009 death of her newborn baby, whose body was found in a dumpster. Angela Beth Onduto, now 47, was arrested last year after investigators utilized advanced DNA technology and a piece of evidence from a Costco receipt to identify her as the infant's mother.
The case began in May 2009 when a man discovered the body of a newborn girl while searching for recyclables at an apartment complex. Union City police named the infant Matea Esperanza and funded her burial. Detectives identified Onduto, who was then a physical therapist in her 30s, as a person of interest, but a lack of sufficient evidence stalled the investigation for years.
The breakthrough occurred last year when new DNA analysis confirmed Onduto's parental link to the baby. Investigators also found a Costco receipt in the dumpster that connected her to the scene. According to charging documents, Onduto "expressed no remorse" following her arrest.
Onduto pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter in April, agreeing to the penalty without admitting guilt. Her defense attorneys stated that the birth and subsequent actions were a private matter, separate from her career, and that she had "labored for hours overnight and gave birth alone in her bathtub, then drowned the baby almost immediately post-partum."
During court proceedings, a judge revoked Onduto's physical therapy license. She has received credit for one year in prison and 54 days for good conduct and is currently held at Santa Rita Jail. The identity of the baby's father has not been publicly disclosed.