GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A mother accused of killing her baby and leaving the child’s remains in a camping toilet in the Upper Peninsula in 1997 will appear in court.

On December 12, a court will determine whether statements Nancy Ann Gerwatowski made to police about her child’s death, along with information about an abortion consideration and a lack of prenatal medical care, can be used in the trial. Detroit NBC affiliate WDIV reports.

Gerwatowski allegedly gave birth to her baby while home alone in Newberry in 1997, and the baby died of suffocation, according to a state affidavit. The state claims the baby could have survived if she had sought medical attention.

Suspect identified, extradited to Michigan in ‘Baby Garnet’ cold case

The baby’s remains were later found in a pit toilet at the Garnet Lake Campground, located in Hudson Township, 20 miles from Newberry. The state said the baby was a “full-term or near-term infant.”

Investigators were unable to identify the baby, who they named Baby Garnet, and the baby’s death became a cold case. That changed in 2022, when a forensic genealogist was able to do that locate relatives of Baby Garnet using a public DNA database.

Gerwatowski, who told investigators she was the baby’s mother, was arrested and brought back to Michigan from Wyoming stands.

She is charged with open murder, involuntary manslaughter and concealing the death of a person. WDIV reports that concealment charges can be dismissed by death.

If convicted, she faces life in prison.

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