Virginia woman indicted for cold case killing of newborn inside movie theater toilet 3 decades ago
The Suffolk County Crime Laboratory collected a sample of the newborn’s blood and saved it as evidence.
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A Virginia woman has been extradited to Long Island and charged in the decades-old death of a newborn baby whose body was discovered inside a toilet at a Commack movie theater nearly 30 years ago, according to Suffolk County prosecutors.
Prosecutors say 59-year-old Michelle Chronick Tyson was indicted Thursday on two counts of murder and was arrested Wednesday in Hampton, Virginia. She pleaded not guilty.
“As alleged, this defendant made a choice back in 1996 to take her newborn child’s life before he ever had the chance to experience the world beyond his first few breaths,” Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said.
According to prosecutors, shortly after 12:30 a.m. on Nov. 18, 1996, employees at the Commack Multiplex called police after a newborn boy was found inside a toilet in a women's restroom.
An autopsy later determined the infant was a full-term baby who had been born alive.
Prosecutors say the medical examiner ruled the cause of death was "asphyxia with submersion in water" and classified the death as a homicide.
The Suffolk County Crime Laboratory collected a sample of the newborn’s blood and saved it as evidence.
The case remained unsolved for decades until members of the Suffolk County Police Department and Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office Cold Case Task Force submitted the blood sample to a private lab, and was able to generate a Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) DNA profile.
Prosecutors say advanced DNA testing conducted in 2024 generated a genetic profile that led investigators to Tyson, who was identified as the child's likely biological mother.
Authorities later obtained a search warrant for a buccal swab from Tyson. Prosecutors say testing confirmed she was a genetic match to the infant.
Tyson is due back in court on Nov. 20. If convicted, she faces 25 years to life in prison.
Prosecutors also noted that New York's Safe Haven Law allows parents who are unable to care for a newborn to legally and safely surrender an infant up to 30 days old without fear of prosecution.
