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BOSTON -- A prosecutor in Massachusetts won't seek criminal charges against anyone, two years after four newborns were found in a freezer in a South Boston apartment.
The bodies of the two boys and two girls, likely born many years ago, were found in shoe boxes wrapped in tinfoil in November 2022. The lengthy investigation was unable to conclude whether the babies were born alive. They were able to identify the parents, but the father was dead and the mother, now 69, would unlikely be able to stand trial due to cognitive issues.
“This investigation, which is one of the most complex, unusual and perplexing that this office has ever encountered, is now complete. While we have some answers, there are many elements of this case that will likely never be answered,” Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden said in a statement released Tuesday.
The unanswered questions include when or where the babies were born, whether they were born alive, what exactly happened to them, and how and why the mother was able to conceal her pregnancies, Hayden said.
A lawyer for the woman, who lives in a residential health-care facility, did not respond to a request for comment.
Investigators who interviewed the mother said she appeared confused and didn’t understand where she was or whom she was talking with. She wasn’t able to provide them with any relevant information.
“A prosecutor’s office cannot ethically move forward with a case that, in good faith, it believes it cannot bring to trial,” the statement said.
The babies were discovered when the woman's family was cleaning out her apartment. DNA tests showed all four were siblings. An investigation concluded they were 37 to 40 weeks old, with their umbilical cords still attached. Autopsies found no signs of obvious injuries.
They were able to determine that the mother also had another child with the man, who died in 2011. That baby was given up for adoption.
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The four teenagers facing charges in connection to the death of 16-year-old Ahmad Al Marrach pleaded not guilty in a Halifax courtroom on Friday.
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French police shot and killed a man armed with a knife and a metal bar who is suspected of having set fire to a synagogue in the Normandy city of Rouen early on Friday, the latest apparent act in a storm of antisemitism roiling France amid the Israel-Hamas war.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued a full pardon Thursday for a former U.S. Army sergeant convicted of murder for fatally shooting an armed demonstrator in 2020 during nationwide protests against police violence and racial injustice.
The Vatican on Friday radically reformed its process for evaluating alleged visions of the Virgin Mary, weeping statues and other seemingly supernatural phenomena, insisting on having the final say in whether the events are worthy of popular devotion.
Trucks carrying badly needed aid for the Gaza Strip rolled across a newly built U.S. pier and into the besieged enclave for the first time Friday as Israeli restrictions on border crossings and heavy fighting hindered the delivery of food and other supplies.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that Moscow's offensive in Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region aims to create a buffer zone but has no plans to capture the city, as Ukraine will allow prisoners to join the army's depleted ranks and approved a fivefold increase in fines for draft dodgers.
To give Canadians a break on their summer road trips, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to suspend all gas and diesel taxes from Victoria Day to Labour Day.
Eight in 10 Canadians back a woman's right to an abortion and two in three don't want the notwithstanding clause used to restrict access to abortions, a new poll suggests.
Canada on Thursday imposed its first-ever sanctions on what the foreign ministry called 'extremist' Israeli settlers in the West Bank, and said Ottawa was weighing additional measures to deter settler violence against Palestinians.
Southern British Columbians may see smoky skies from wildfires burning in the northeastern part of the province over the weekend and one local doctor is warning of the potential long-term health risks associated with that poor air quality.
Countless people seek emergency care for back pain, muscle strains and similar injuries resulting from 'moving wrong' during mundane, everyday tasks such as bending over to tie shoes, lifting objects or doing household chores.
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