Updated: 10:52 PM EST Mar 1, 2021
A woman is facing multiple charges, including attempted murder, as she stands accused of abandoning her newborn baby boy inside a trash can in Boston's Dorchester neighborhood.Marie Merisier, a 33-year-old Haitian native who is currently living in Milton, was also charged with endangerment of a child during her arraignment Monday in Dorchester District Court.On Friday, a woman who was walking along Dorchester Avenue says she heard crying coming from a trash barrel and asked for the help of emergency medical technicians who were nearby."He grabbed a grocery bag out of the trash can. Two other EMTs came over, cut the bag open, it was a newborn baby found inside of it," said Silvana Sanchez.Boston police confirmed the infant was found in the area of 2254 Dorchester Ave., near a pizza shop and a nail salon, around 1:30 p.m. and was rushed to a hospital.Officials say the baby boy is currently in good condition and is described as healthy.During Monday's arraignment, prosecutors with the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office said Merisier went to cook and clean for an acquaintance who lives at an apartment on Dorchester Avenue.The acquaintance, a 73-year-old man, told investigators that he noticed Merisier was visibly pregnant. According to that man, Merisier went into the bathroom for an hour and he eventually heard a baby crying.According to prosecutors, the man said he saw Merisier come out of the bathroom with a brown leather bag and that he could hear the sounds of cries coming from the bag. He says he offered to call an ambulance, but Merisier allegedly declined and left his apartment. That is when he said he called 911.Prosecutors say Sanchez heard the cries coming from the trash can shortly after Merisier allegedly left the Dorchester apartment, and that there is video that shows Merisier reaching into her brown leather bag and putting a plastic bag into the trash can."(Boston Emergency Medical Services) found a newborn male baby inside two knotted plastic grocery bags," Assistant District Attorney Audrey Mark said during Monday's arraignment.When police tracked Merisier down at her Milton residence, prosecutors say she first denied that she was the person who left the baby in the trash can. Prosecutors say Merisier later admitted that she did do it, but said that she thought the baby was dead.Although Merisier has no criminal record, prosecutors pushed for a higher bail to be set since she has no ties to the area. Merisier was ordered to be held on $100,000 cash bail and is not allowed to have contact with her newborn son or any witnesses. She also must remain under home confinement and submit to GPS monitoring if she is released on bail.Defense attorney Cristina Rodrigues, a public defender, requested that Merisier be released on personal recognizance -- with the stipulations of house arrest and GPS monitoring -- so that her client could access pregnancy-related mental health treatment and evaluation, which are unobtainable while incarcerated."This case involves an impossible, complicated set of questions about mental health, pre-partum and post-partum, hormonal, emotional and mental health crises," Rodrigues said during the arraignment.Merisier's next court appearance is scheduled for March 29.Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins is reminding people about the Safe Haven Act of Massachusetts, which was passed in 2004, and allows a parent to legally surrender newborn infants seven 7 days old or younger at any hospital, police station or manned fire station without fear of facing criminal prosecution.