Melissa Mitin, the young Okemos mother accused of murdering her newborn baby daughter by placing her facedown in a waste paper basket at a family friend’s home, is now facing another very serious charge.

 

According to the prosecution, they are certain that Melissa Mitin’s second baby – a little boy – met the same fate as his sister, born the year before. But without a body, witnesses, or a confession, it is a little difficult to prove that Mitin killed this second baby as well. But in the absence of being able to bring murder charges, the prosecution decided to try for a different conviction – child abuse in the first degree.

 

The motion to add the charge of first degree child abuse was brought before Judge Jamo in the Ingham County Circuit Court earlier this month, which the Judge said he would review. Well, that review is now over, and Judge Jamo has officially allowed the prosecution to bring the additional charge against Mitin in this case.

 

However, the Judge has yet to rule on the second issue that the prosecution brought up at a recent hearing. That is whether or not evidence of her possible attempts to dispose of the second baby would be allowed at Mitin’s upcoming trial for the death of the first baby.

 

According to another inmate at the Ingham County Jail, Mitin revealed to her that she had given birth in December of 2014 to a stillborn baby. She then allegedly told the other inmate that she put the body into a green gift bag, and placed the bag in a gas station dumpster somewhere in Okemos.

 

According to the prosecution, a friend of Mitin’s has corroborated the portion of the story pertaining to the bag, saying that she had in fact given Mitin a birthday gift in a green bag. In addition, MSP forensics discovered a substantial amount of dried blood in Mitin’s bedroom, including a large pool that was covered with a rug. And finally, a credit card belonging to Mitin’s father was allegedly used by Mitin at an Okemos gas station on December 18, 2014.
Mitin’s trial for the death of her first baby in 2013 is scheduled to take place in April of 2016. Judge Jamo has already requested an additional 200 potential jurors be made available, in order for the court to select the best possible panel of jurors for the trial.