Christina Hall

Detroit Free Press

It's been nearly a year since the days-old baby everyone in the Macomb County community came to know as Henry Alexander Macomb was laid to rest.

Today, his mother, Angela Alexie, was convicted of felony murder and first-degree child abuse in the Christmas Eve 2014 death of her son, who was born and died – alone – in a dirty, drafty garage in Eastpointe. She told police she would have named him Robert.

"We did what we had to do. It's bittersweet," said Roseville Police Detective Brad McKenzie, who was in charge of the case. "I wish she would have made a different decision."

It took a six-man, six-woman jury in Macomb County Circuit Court about one hour and 15 minutes to convict the 25-year-old mother of four. The jury forewoman, who did not want to be named, said jurors gave little attention to the lesser charges of involuntary manslaughter and second-degree child abuse that were other options for the panel to consider.

"She didn't have any sympathy," the forewoman said, adding that jurors wondered why Alexie didn't give birth to the child in the house or bring him into the house for warmth or ask her mother for help. When asked if jurors believed Alexie's videotaped statements to police that she couldn't walk after giving birth, the forewoman said: "Hell no, I have two kids."

Eastpointe mom on trial: 'I would never want my baby to die'

Alexie is to be sentenced April 19 to life in prison without parole. Her attorney, Steve Kaplan, said she will appeal the verdict.

Alexie didn't appear to show any emotion when the verdict was read.

"She's despondent over the verdict. She was was hoping to be released from prison in 10 years," Kaplan said. "We're disappointed, but we understand why the jury reached the verdict."

Alexie's family had been in the courtroom throughout the short trial this week but was not in the courtroom for the verdict. Kaplan said they wanted to be there but did not think the verdict was going to come today.

"Angela Alexie made conscious decisions concerning baby Henry's welfare," Roseville Police Lt. Raymond Blarek said. "The facts are indisputable and the jury held her accountable for those decisions. The jury made the right choice."

Roseville investigators worked doggedly to solve what they hope is a once-in-a-lifetime case after the initially unidentified frozen, naked baby's body came down a Roseville recycling center conveyor belt to horrified workers less than month after he died.

The community rallied behind the baby, providing funeral services for that were attended by strangers and Alexie's family and police got a tip that Alexie might be the mother.

Alexie did not take the stand at her trial, and her mother was the only defense witness. Alexie didn't testify, in part, because her videotaped statements to Roseville police in January 2015 were shown to jurors.

In the tapes, she told police that she never wanted her son to die, that she shouldn't have kept him in the cold and that she should be locked up. In one statement, Assistant Prosecutor William Cataldo pointed out to jurors during his closing statement, she called her son "it."

"This child was knowingly left to die in that garage," he said. "This is about choices. She chose the cowardly way of letting her child die."

But Kaplan asked jurors to view the case from the vantage point of his client, who has cognitive issues and a 10th-grade education. He admitted Alexie "clearly was wrong" but said the proper charge was involuntary manslaughter.

The facts were not disputed: Alexie had her son alone in a detached garage at a home on Gascony in Eastpointe on Dec. 22, 2014, and cut the umbilical cord with her teeth. She kept him in the garage, apparently tried to breastfeed him, and he was found dead Christmas Eve. His frozen body then came down the conveyor at a recycling center.

Cataldo told jurors that Alexie had her phone and could have called 911 the day her son was born.

"This is not a lack of maternal instincts. She chose to let that child die," he said. "That child died. Baby Robert is dead."

Cataldo reminded the jury of a text Alexie sent the day after her son was born asking what restaurant or bar she was supposed to meet someone at, though Kaplan told jurors it was unclear when that meeting was supposed to be. Alexie told detectives she couldn't walk in the days after she gave birth to her son. When she went out to take him to the fire department, he was dead.

Alexie also took selfies after her son's death, including one Jan. 1, 2015, showing she had lost weight.

Cataldo told jurors he wanted to scream to the skies: "It's not 20 pounds, it's a child."

The motive, Cataldo told jurors, is that Alexie wanted to keep the child out of the hands of Child Protective Services after having lost her other three children because of neglect.

Kaplan told jurors that contrary to what Cataldo told them, a conviction of involuntary manslaughter would not have been a "reward."

"Regardless of the verdict, there are no winners," Kaplan told the jurors during his closing argument. "The baby's dead. Angela's gonna be severely punished. This is one of the saddest cases you'll hear; one of the saddest cases you'll be exposed to."

Contact Christina Hall: chall99@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter: @challreporter.