NEWBERRY, United States — Lawyers for Nancy Gerwatowski asked a Michigan judge on Thursday, December 12, 2024, to dismiss all charges arising from the death of a newborn whose remains were found at a campground in 1997.
Gerwatowski faces one count each of open murder, involuntary manslaughter and concealing the death of an individual. Open murder carries a possible life sentence.
Her defence argued that prosecutors could not establish that the infant, known locally as Baby Garnet, had been born alive. The state opposed the request.
Investigators connected Gerwatowski to the case decades after the death through genetic genealogy, aided by a home DNA test submitted by a granddaughter who had never met her.
A Cold Case Reopened
The infant’s remains were discovered in a pit toilet at Garnet Lake Campground in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula in 1997.
Investigators were unable to identify the child or find witnesses who had seen anyone leave an infant at the campground. The investigation stalled, and the name Baby Garnet became associated with one of Newberry’s longstanding unsolved cases.
Police reopened the investigation in 2017. A forensic company later extracted DNA from part of the infant’s femur, according to court documents, and the resulting profile was sent to Identifinders International, a genetic genealogy investigation firm.
DNA belonging to other relatives eventually directed investigators to a FamilyTreeDNA kit submitted by Jenna Gerwatowski, now 23.
She had bought the test about six months earlier after a friend received one as a Christmas present. She had no known connection to the Baby Garnet investigation.
A Call That Appeared to Be a Scam
The granddaughter was working at a Newberry flower shop in May 2022 when a Michigan State Police detective called from an unfamiliar number.
“Have you heard of the Baby Garnet case?” the detective asked, according to her account.
She knew the story because she had grown up in the community where the remains were found. The detective then told her: “Your DNA was a match.”
The call left her confused about how investigators had obtained her genetic information. The detective said someone from Identifinders International would contact her to help identify closer relatives.
Misty Gillis, then a senior forensic genealogist and cold-case liaison for the company, telephoned later that day. According to the granddaughter and subsequent court filings, Gillis requested her FamilyTreeDNA password so that the genetic information could be transferred to another database.
The family was suspicious. The granddaughter’s grandfather had recently been defrauded by someone pretending to be a detective, and her mother warned her against disclosing passwords or other personal information.
She refused the request and ended the call.
“I wholeheartedly did not think that it was real,” she said.
A week later, a cousin who worked as a victim advocate in the county prosecutor’s office explained that police were conducting a genuine investigation. The granddaughter then contacted Gillis and agreed to cooperate.
Court records show that an analysis of her DNA identified her as Baby Garnet’s half-niece.
The Investigation Reaches Her Family
Detectives interviewed Kara Gerwatowski, the granddaughter’s mother, on June 1, 2022. She provided a DNA sample that identified her as the infant’s half-sister, according to court records.
The family connection led her to tell investigators that her estranged mother could be involved. She had not spoken to her mother since she was 18, while her daughter had never met the older woman.
Nancy Gerwatowski was living in Wyoming when investigators questioned her.
The discovery shocked both women. The granddaughter had known about Baby Garnet throughout her childhood but had regarded the case as a mystery involving an unknown family.
Two Accounts of the Birth
The Michigan Attorney General’s Office alleges that Gerwatowski gave birth alone at her home in Newberry. Prosecutors say the infant died from asphyxiation and that medical treatment, which Gerwatowski did not seek, could have prevented the death.
The defence presents a different account.
According to a court filing, Gerwatowski unexpectedly went into labour while in a bathtub. Her lawyers say the fetus became lodged in the birth canal as she tried unsuccessfully to complete the delivery and that she lost consciousness during the process.
When she eventually delivered, the defence says, the fetus was stillborn.
Gerwatowski acknowledges in court filings that she placed the remains in a bag and left them at the campground. Her lawyers say she was in shock after a traumatic delivery without pain medication and did not have access to a telephone or mobile service to call 911.
The defence also asked the court to suppress statements Gerwatowski made during police questioning, arguing that she had been denied access to a lawyer. Prosecutors disputed that contention.
If the statements are admitted, her lawyers want references to her consideration of an abortion and her failure to seek prenatal care withheld from the trial. The state maintains that those statements are relevant to a possible motive.
Judge Brian D. Rahilly said he hoped to decide whether the charges should be dismissed by the following week or, at the latest, by the end of the year.
The charges against Gerwatowski remain allegations. She is presumed innocent unless proved guilty.
