More than a year since her baby was found dead in a dumpster, Tara Tomlin has been sentenced for the decision she made that day.
"She feels terrible," said Mike Howard, Tomlin's attorney. "She acknowledged responsibility for the death of her child."
Tomlin was working at a gas station last November when she gave birth to a baby boy in the bathroom. She put him in a garbage bag and tossed him in a dumpster. When police located him hours later, he was dead.
"There are a great number of ways people can handle a situation when they're in crisis like she was with respect to her child," said District Attorney Paul Czajka. "She knew or took advantage of none of them."
New York's safe haven law allows people to drop off their newborn babies in a safe place with a safe person, like a hospital. Tomlin's defense attorney said she lacked a support system and came from a broken home.
"It's a tragic case," Howard said. "I mean, she grew up in abject poverty and had some special education classes and issues."
As Tomlin is sent off to begin her prison sentence, those closest to this case can only hope others won't make the same decision she did.
Once Tomlin completes her sentence, she will have five years of post-release supervision.