Det. First Grade Girard Named GPD's December Officer Of The Month

GREENWICH, CT — Det. First Grade Christy Girard has been named the Greenwich Police Department's Officer of the Month for December for her work on a 35-year-old case which resulted in an arrest last month.

Girard was presented with a certificate last week by GPD Chief James Heavey.

"To be able to close out this investigation and be recognized by the police department was great," Girard said.

On Nov. 19, Janita M. Phillips, 62, of Lake Mary, Fla. was arrested and charged with murder in connection with the 1986 death of a newborn baby in Greenwich.

Phillips was initially being held on a $50,000 court-set bond. The Greenwich Time reported last month that Phillips was released on a promise to appear, and that she must check-in with the Bail Commissioner's Office once per week. She's due in court in January, the Time said.

On May 16, 1986, a newborn baby boy — nicknamed "Baby John" by investigators over the years — was found dead inside a garbage truck that had just emptied a dumpster at the apartment building located at 27 Havemeyer Place in Greenwich, where Phillips lived, GPD Deputy Chief Robert Berry said last month.

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined that the cause of death was strangulation, and ruled the case a homicide.

Police said they collected several pieces of evidence at the scene in 1986, including items soaked with blood. Interviews were conducted with residents at the apartment building, including Phillips, who was a person of interest, Berry said.

But as the investigation wore on, detectives were unable to positively identify the killer and the case went cold. Phillips hid the pregnancy from her family and friends, police said. She and her husband moved to Florida shortly after the baby's death.

Girard picked up the case in 2016.

In an interview with Patch, Girard said identifying Phillips involved "basic DNA profiling" — trying to piece together DNA found at the scene in 1986 and finding the suspect to match it.

But the process was made difficult because Phillips was not registered in the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), the national DNA database. Phillips was never arrested prior to Nov. 19, 2021, Girard said, adding that she also didn't fit the criminal profile of someone who committed neonaticide or infantcide.

The Greenwich Time, citing court filings, said a towel found with the baby matched a towel that was seen in Phillips’ apartment at 27 Havemeyer Place, according to witnesses.

In 2020, Girard worked with authorities in Seminole County in Florida, where DNA evidence was collected by going through Phillips' trash and recycling outside her home, Girard said.

Girard traveled to Florida in September of this year and interviewed Phillips, who admitted she was the baby's mother and caused the death, police said. DNA testing confirmed Phillips as the mother.

"I think that when it all came down to it, without a confession, I was not going to be able to make that arrest for murder," Girard said.

As part of the investigation, Girard traveled all over the country and to Canada, interviewing residents who lived in the building, witnesses and past detectives who worked on the case in order to put together missing pieces and find out what questions were never asked, she said.

"I followed tips that ended up not being it. It wasn't a straight path to the end result. It was a lot of different work from research in the library, [looking at] family trees and different medical records and eliminating other suspects," Girard said.

Girard pointed out that there was no family pleading for justice in public. Families of victims often push authorities to re-examine cold cases or suspects. In this case, Girard said she needed to convince prosecutors and the GPD to take a chance and follow the different leads she developed.

Cold cases also have a lot of dead ends, as leads and tips fizzle out.

"To be able to keep on going and coming out with the end result that I was able to get is a long journey but satisfying," she added.

Capt. Mark Zuccerella of the GPD praised Girard for her work on the case, which he said highlighted her abilities as an investigator.

"Christy is and always has been an exceptional investigator. She does a very good job digging into each case and finding the facts and the details," Zuccerella said. "Her dedication in that particular case is a testament of her service to victims of crime. She's very respectful of that with regard to victims, and her excellence in investigation is expressed very well in this particular case."