Former WSU student sentenced to nearly 15 years in prison

Courtesy+photo

Courtesy photo

A former Wichita State honor roll nursing student has been sentenced to almost 15 years in jail for the death of her infant.

A Johnson County Judge sentenced Marissa Carol Fields, now 22, to 14 years and 10 months in prison for second-degree murder and aggravated endangerment following the discovery of her baby in a trash bin on Dec. 26, 2014. The sentencing was within the guidelines of Kansas law, calling for a sentence of between 14 and 15 years.

She admitted the baby was hers and said that it was born blue and stillborn to police. However, medical records indicate it was born alive due to it having had its lungs expand. Fields, then 20 years sold, also said she put the baby in a plastic bag and threw it in the trash.

Her father reportedly found the baby and called police.

Other reports indicate Fields searched for ways to induce a miscarriage while 38 weeks pregnant.

According to court records, Fields’ father and brother found the baby on Christmas Eve, 2014, in a trash can. Fields’ father confronted Fields, leading Fields to admit giving birth and afterward putting the baby in the trash.

Fields initially claimed she wasn’t aware of her pregnancy, but detectives’ investigations into her phone found this to be false.

Court records of a text conversation from December 2014 show a friend of Fields’ writing, “Nothing is permanent,” in reference to Fields’ pregnancy. Fields replied with, “Only thing that’s ever permanent is death.”