Mother convicted in newborn’s death wants lighter sentence
A North Union Township woman serving up to 15 years in prison for the death of her newborn daughter wants her sentence reduced.
In papers filed Monday in Fayette County Court, Sara Sue Hawk, 27, asked Fayette County Judge Steve P. Leskinen to reduce her prison sentence of 7½ to 15 years, imposed in October 2010.
Hawk was the mother of “Baby Mary,” a newborn baby whose body was found in Cove Run Creek in North Union Township on June 4, 2000. The case went cold after the baby’s body was found, but investigators continued to follow up on leads.
Several years after the body was found, authorities took a DNA sample from Hawk’s sister and they determined she was related to the child.
That prompted police to take DNA from Hawk, and in 2008, her DNA showed she was Baby Mary’s mother.
After Hawk was formally charged, additional information prompted police to charge Warren Bircher, Hawk’s former brother-in-law. While he was not the child’s father, police alleged he believed he might have been because he was having sex with Hawk.
In exchange for testifying against Bircher, prosecutors offered Hawk a deal. She pleaded guilty to third-degree murder, concealing the death of a child and related charges.
She testified at Bircher’s trial earlier this year that he delivered the baby, stuffed her body in a backpack and put it in a creek. But he was acquitted of all charges.
In addition to lessening her prison sentence, Hawk’s attorney, Thomas W. Shaffer, asked Leskinen to give her credit for six months spent on house arrest awaiting trial.
In asking for a reduction of sentence, Shaffer noted that Hawk is a good mother to her other children, who were 6 years and 3 months old when she was sentenced.
A date to determine the merits of the motion has yet to be set.