A woman has pleaded guilty to killing her newborn son nearly 40 years after the baby’s body was discovered at an Air Force hospital.
The deceased child was found wrapped in laundry in a laundry bin at Ponds Laundry in Wichita Falls, Texas, on August 4, 1988, shortly after authorities believed the baby had been born. The bedding came from the hospital at nearby Sheppard Air Force Base.
The newborn’s death remained unsolved for decades until cold case investigators identified him Tammy Sue KernsAccording to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas, the 58-year-old was identified as the infant’s mother using forensic genealogy.
Kerns, 57, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder on Sept. 9, the office said Monday, Sept. 14. Press release. She had previously been accused, based on information, of “intentionally unlawfully killing a newborn male child.”
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According to prosecutors, her guilty plea came after Air Force investigators reinvestigated the case in 2015.
The newborn’s tissue samples were later analyzed in 2022 by Othram, a forensic laboratory specializing in genetic genealogy, using advanced DNA sequencing. The tests led investigators to the baby’s biological father, prosecutors said.
After the DNA breakthrough, investigators tracked down Kerns, who was stationed at Sheppard Air Force Base at the time of the baby’s birth, according to prosecutors.
Kerns admitted she was the baby’s biological mother when she spoke to Air Force investigators in May 2025, prosecutors said.
She is said to have told investigators that she had hidden her pregnancy.
According to her lawsuit documents, Kerns went into labor during her night shift at Sheppard Air Force Base. She allegedly admitted to hiding and locking herself alone in an X-ray room during the birth.
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When Kerns gave birth to the child, prosecutors said, “she placed her hand over his mouth until he stopped crying and/or breathing,” and then “she cut the umbilical cord from (the baby) and the placenta and wrapped the umbilical cord around his body.”
Kerns is accused of wrapping the deceased infant in hospital linens and placing his body in a laundry basket before returning to work.
According to prosecutors, Kerns agreed to a voluntary DNA test that confirmed she was the baby’s mother.
“Forensic genealogy broke the silence surrounding this crime and revealed the truth that the defendant had kept secret for nearly forty years: She intentionally and maliciously murdered her newborn baby,” the U.S. Attorney said Ryan Raybouldof the Northern District of Texas said in a statement. “This plea is the direct result of tireless investigative work and scientific advances that allowed us to identify both parents and bring justice to an infant who was denied his first breath.
Information about Kerns’ legal representation was not immediately available.
As part of her plea agreement, she faces a minimum of five years in prison and up to 20 years in prison.
