An Italian court has sentenced a 22-year-old law student to more than 24 years in prison after she secretly gave birth to two babies and buried their bodies in her parents’ garden.
The Parma Assize Court handed down the sentence to Chiara P. Following a trial that revealed she had delivered her first child in May 2023 and buried the newborn in the family garden. The infant’s remains were discovered during a police investigation after she gave birth to a second child on August 7, 2024, again in secret at her parents’ home.
Authorities said Chiara buried the second baby shortly after delivery, then went out to celebrate with friends before later returning to complete the burial. The next day, she traveled with her family to New York, where she spent several weeks before being questioned by police upon her return to Italy in mid-August 2024.
The court found that while Chiara was responsible for both deaths, it could only convict her of premeditated murder in one case. She was sentenced to 24 years and three months in prison, slightly below the 26 years sought by prosecutors. She remains under house arrest at her family’s residence and is required to wear an electronic monitoring bracelet.
During the trial, the father of the second child, Emanuele, similarly 22, said he had been unaware of the pregnancy and expressed deep sorrow, stating he would have raised the baby himself with help from his mother.
The case has drawn attention across Europe for its rare and disturbing circumstances, highlighting extreme concealment of pregnancy and infant death in a seemingly ordinary family setting.
