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Angela Onduto (left) and the grave of the newborn she is accused of killing (Union City Police Department).
A woman living in Colorado was charged with the murder of a newborn baby found in California after DNA proved the baby was her daughter.
Angela Onduto, 46, was arrested in Denver on July 2 after murder charges were formally filed in connection with the death of a newborn baby in Union City, California, in 2009. In a Facebook post, Union City police said that the baby girl was found dead in a dumpster behind an apartment complex. Police said that Onduto was initially a person of interest in the investigation, but she was never arrested and the case went cold.
Years after the baby was found, DNA connected her to Onduto, her birth mother, authorities said.
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In May, on what would have been the baby”s 16th birthday, police tracked Onduto down in Denver and coordinated with local law enforcement in the area. Onduto was arrested but released pending formal charges.
After formal murder charges were filed by the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office on July 2, Onduto was arrested again and taken into custody in Colorado. She is expected to be extradited to Alameda County, where she allegedly killed her newborn daughter.
The Union City Police Department took custody of the baby when her body was found on May 18, 2009, and named her Matea. According to reporting by the San Francisco Chronicle, Matea still had her umbilical cord attached and was wrapped in bloody pantyhose when she was found in a dumpster by a man looking for recyclables.
The police department honored Matea’s memory with a permanent grave in 2017 and pays tribute to her on her birthday every year.
According to a probable cause statement obtained by the local Bay Area News Group, Onduto allegedly confessed to killing the baby shortly after she was born. Union City Cold Case Detective Dominic Ayala reportedly wrote in the statement, “Angela detailed how she intentionally murdered [Matea] after giving birth at home in 2009. Angela expressed no remorse, and said she knew while pregnant she had no intention of keeping the baby. She admitted to discarding Baby Jane Doe in the dumpster. She denied diagnosis with any psychiatric conditions and/or drug use at the time of the incident.”
Police said the investigation into Matea’s death is still ongoing. Onduto remains in custody in Colorado pending extradition.
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