Appeal Court imposes lesser conviction for Alberta woman in newborn’s death

<p>EDMONTON – The Alberta Court of Appeal has set aside a woman’s second-degree murder conviction in her newborn’s death and replaced it with infanticide.</p> <p>The high court said in its ruling that the verdict was unreasonable.</p> <p>Katrina Effert of Wetaskiwin, Alta., admitted that she killed her baby boy in 2005 when she was 19 after she secretly gave birth in the basement of her home.</p> <p>She said she threw the baby’s body into a neighbour’s yard.</p> <p>She was convicted of second-degree murder in June 2009 and sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole for 10 years.</p> <p>Infanticide carries a maximum five-year prison term.</p> <p>A date for sentencing has not been set.</p> <p>Note to readers: This is a corrected story. An earlier version had the woman’s first name incorrect.</p>