BELLEFONTE — A man from Wampum serving a long sentence in connection with the death of his newborn son in 2017 has died in prison.
Christopher Lee Kennedy, 42, was found unresponsive in his cell at Rockview State Correctional Institute in Center County on Jan. 28.
Lake: Christopher Lee Kennedy convicted of child rape and child death in 2017
Both prison and paramedics attempted to take life-saving measures when he was taken to Mount Nittany Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 5:10 p.m.
In accordance with state policy, the Pennsylvania State Police has been notified and will investigate. A cause of death has not been released.
Kennedy was sentenced to 18-36 years in state prison on September 7 for an October 9, 2017 incident in which he was involved in the murder of a newborn baby he had with an underage woman from Ellwood City and hid the corpse in a box in her closet.
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According to court records, the Ellwood City Police Department first became aware of the infant mortality rate on Nov. 13, 2017, when they were called to UPMC Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh for a 16-year-old girl from the city who was on a ventilator due to health problems. . problems caused by not getting proper treatment after delivery.
The girl admitted to having a child with Kennedy, a family friend, and said they had been “in a relationship” for about three years. She said Kennedy told her they couldn’t have the child because he would be in trouble, so he gave her chemicals in August to try to miscarry. But on October 9, 2017, she gave birth to a boy in her upstairs bathroom.
Police said the girl initially said she was alone at the time of the birth and strangled the child. However, she later admitted that Kennedy was there and killed the baby. She told police they hid the body in a box in her bedroom closet.
When police searched the closet, officers said they noticed the odor immediately, despite items such as spices and perfume placed there to reduce the odor. Police said they removed boxes stacked on top of a blue container and opened it to find a large black plastic bag containing a safe. The body and other items were buried in cement in the vault.
Police said the safe was purchased by Kennedy and they were able to find the chemicals the girl had given her.
Kennedy has been in SCI Rockview since December 22
Nicholas Vercilla is a staff reporter for the Ellwood City Ledger. He can be reached at [email protected]
This article originally appeared on Ellwood City Ledger: Wampum man convicted of newborn death dies in state prison