Mum Bao Tram Nguyen charged with infanticide over death of baby Spencer Jordan Recto
Homicide detectives charged a mother with infanticide after her six-month-old boy was found dead in Mernda, in Melbourne’s northeast.
Police & Courts
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A mother has faced court charged with killing her six-month-old baby boy.
Homicide detectives charged Bao Tram Nguyen, known as Alyssa Nguyen, with infanticide after little Spencer Jordan Recto was found dead at the family’s Mernda home on May 20.
The boy’s father, Ben “Beej” Recto, raised the alarm, calling triple-0, after he returned to the Langdon Dr property to find his son lifeless, and Ms Nguyen, 37, in a critical condition.
As Ms Nguyen was taken to The Alfred hospital’s intensive care unit under police guard, detectives probed whether the incident was an alleged murder-suicide attempt.
Ms Nguyen appeared in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court via video link on Tuesday where her lawyer, Ruth Parker, successfully asked the case be adjourned for eight weeks as her client’s treating professional is away at the moment.
It would also give her more time to seek instructions from her client, Ms Parker said.
A charge sheet, released by the court, alleged Ms Nguyen “carried out conduct that caused the death of her child ... in circumstances that amount to infanticide”.
Ms Nguyen, who is on bail, will return to court on December 14.
In the wake of the tragedy, friends and neighbours left teddy bears and floral tributes outside the home.
“I can’t believe it; they’re a good couple,” one friend said, adding that Ms Nguyen was a “caring mother”.
A GoFundMe page set up to help the parents following their son’s death raised more than $20,000.
“Spencer was the light of their lives and was deeply loved by everyone,” the fundraiser said.
It stated that donations would “take away the stress and burden of finances from dealing with everything that’s involved from losing a loved one”.
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