Angela M. Alexie

EASTPOINTE, MI -- The 24-year-old mother took her seat in the jury box of an Eastpointe courtroom and immediately bowed her head to her knees. Her long reddish-brown hair covered her face from dozens of media, a bail bondwoman and sister staring in her direction.

Angela M. Alexie, 24, a homeless woman who temporarily resided at a home on Gascony in Eastpointe, confessed to giving birth to a baby boy about 1 p.m.on Dec. 22, Roseville Police Detective Brad McKenzie told District Judge Carl F. Gerds III during the woman's arraignment Wednesday.

Alexie is now charged with first-degree murder and first-degree child abuse, both crimes punishable by life in prison.

A not-guilty plea was entered by the court on her behalf.

McKenzie said the baby remained alive in an unheated garage for several days before succumbing to the elements.

"She left the house and then back out to the garage to check on the baby every few hours," he said. "Then the baby finally passed away on the 24th of December."

The child was placed in a recycling can by "some unknown person" weeks later, McKenzie said.

Alexie told the court she lived a homeless vagabond, moving often. She's never had a job, Alexie told the judge, who then asked, "How do you pay your bills?"

"I don't know," Alexie said, "I don't really pay my bills."

Roseville Baby 24 Gallery: Roseville Baby

The judge said a court-appointed attorney would be assigned.

The home where the child died is a white bungalow on Gascony. There was a white, snow-covered sedan in the driveway and a wooden table on the porch Wednesday.

No one answered the door.

Representatives in the Eastpointe assessing office said the house is registered in the names of Justin, Richard and Michael Gumola, who keep an address in Shelby Township.

The men purchased the house for $40,750 on July 30, 2014.

Gerds set Alexie's bond at $1 million dollars and scheduled a probable cause hearing for 8 a.m. Feb. 4 and a preliminary exam on Feb. 18.

A woman who identified herself as Alexie's sister attended the hearing and took notes but declined comment.

Roseville police began investigating the case when Alexie's baby was found on a soting conveyor at a Roseville recycling center Jan. 14.

Police, after receiving tips, placed Alexie under surveillance at the Eastpointe and spotted her leaving the address Monday about 12:30 p.m., at which time Roseville Police Chief James Berlin said she was arrested without incident.

The baby has since been unofficially named Henry Alexander Macomb, rather than John Doe, by employees of the Macomb County Medical Examiner's Office. The name pays homage to Macomb County's namesake, Gen. Alexander Macomb.

Other community members have pitched in to provide the child a burial complete with casket and gravestone. The arrangements are pending.