Infanticide Case Closes In Washington County

Infanticide Case Closes In Washington County

By Alisha M. Kendall
The Weekly Recorder
March 14, 2008

Jessica Rizor, 31, from 127 Lawrence Ave., in Washington, was charged Tuesday night with murder in the first-degree of her newborn that she gave birth to in the bathroom of her home, on November 26, 2004. She was also found guilty of concealing the death of a child and abuse of a corpse. Her murder in the first-degree conviction will earn her a life behind bars, with no possibility of parole.

Rizor gave birth to a baby girl early in the morning on November 26, 2004, in the bathroom of her home. She then suffocated the full-term child in a plastic bag and put it in her kitchen garbage can. After cleaning up her bathroom, she woke her husband up and asked him to take the trash out, because of the leftovers from Thanksgiving. It was then that he found the child.

The trial was held in front of Judge DiSalle in Washington County’s Court of Common Pleas. A jury of twelve, three men and nine women, were selected last Monday, and her trial began last Tuesday. The trial continued all last week and into the beginning of this week. After ten hours of discussing the case, the jurors found her guilty of murder in the first-degree, as opposed to the lesser charge she also faced of third-degree murder, deciding that her actions were pre-meditated and planned out. Rizor was emotionless as she heard the verdict. Her attorney, Robert Brady, plans to appeal.