TRUMBULL COUNTY Mom denies killing newborn

The 29-year-old woman says she has received hate mail from other inmates.
By PEGGY SINKOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Blinking to hold back tears, the 29-year-old mother of two boys insisted that she did not suffocate her newborn daughter three years ago.
Dressed in her dark-blue inmate coveralls, Danielle Lentine leaned forward in a chair in a Trumbull County Jail conference room and said loudly that she did not know she was pregnant in 1998 and was in shock when she delivered the baby girl in a room in the Howland Township home of her adoptive parents.
"I do know that I did not kill my baby," Lentine said. "I did not suffocate her."
She declined to give specific details about the delivery or the events that happened immediately after. She did say, however, the infant was born small, about 10 to 12 inches long. Medical officials have said the average length of a newborn is 19 inches.
Lentine said that she is not sure if the baby was born premature because she had no idea how long she was pregnant. She declined to identify the father.
About the charges: Lentine, who since 1999 has been living in Columbus, has been indicted on charges of aggravated murder, involuntary manslaughter, felonious assault and gross abuse of a corpse. Lentine has pleaded innocent and is in the county jail in lieu of $100,000 bond.
With these charges, she is not eligible for the death penalty but could get a maximum of 53 years in jail.
Police said the remains of the infant have been sent to Washington, D.C., in an attempt to learn how old the infant was when it died, whether the baby died of natural causes and its sex. Her statements are the first indication that the child was female.
An affidavit filed with the court by Capt. Karl Compton of Howland said that Lentine told police during a March 23 interview that she was pregnant in late 1997 and in early 1998, and gave birth sometime in early 1998.
The affidavit further noted that Lentine, a 1990 graduate of Warren John F. Kennedy High School, told police that after the birth, the child moved in her arms and that she "had intentionally killed the infant by suffocating it."
"I did not say that to police, and when I saw that on papers in court, I couldn't believe it," Lentine said.
Other details: She did say that at the time she delivered the baby, she was afraid to tell her father because she did not want to disappoint him. She said no one in her family knew she was pregnant.
She noted that she had been adopted by her parents as an infant.
"I've known since I was 6 that I was adopted," Lentine said.
Police said that after suffocating the infant, Lentine put the baby in a plastic garbage bag and then concealed it in an unheated crawl space off her bedroom.
The remains were found by Lentine's father, Anthony, on March 17. Anthony Lentine called 911, and police began investigating.
Lentine, who was living in a YMCA in Columbus with her fianc & eacute; and her 6-month-old son, Noah, was arrested March 23.
"My parents were upset, but they have been talking to me now, and they know I love kids, and they are not judging me," Lentine said. She said her 7-year-old son lives with her parents.
"I would like to see both of my boys, and I really want to hold my baby [Noah]," Lentine said.
She said that when she was arrested March 23, she didn't get a chance to say goodbye to her son or fianc & eacute;. She added that her fianc & eacute;'s parents have filed motions in Mahoning County Juvenile Court in an attempt to gain custody of Noah.
"This has been very difficult," Lentine said, adding that since she has been in jail, she has received hate mail from inmates there and from prisoners at other facilities.
"They moved one woman because she was calling me a baby killer," Lentine said. "Now, I just wish they could get the mail to stop."