FULLERTON, Calif. – Opening statements have begun in the trial of a Southern California woman accused of putting her newborn baby in a trash bin because she became pregnant during an affair.
Prosecutors on Wednesday showed jurors in Orange County a photo of a healthy baby girl born to 39-year-old Shawn Sepulveda in August 2008.
Prosecutors say the Laguna Niguel woman hid her pregnancy and abandoned the infant because her husband wasn't the baby's father.
Sepulveda's then-11-year-old daughter discovered the baby in a trash bin at the family's apartment complex and alerted apartment staff, who called 911.
The baby was transported to a hospital and taken into protective custody.
Prosecutors say Sepulveda could be sentenced to life in state prison if convicted of attempted murder and child abuse.