UPDATE: Mother Who Allegedly Set Baby on Fire Said She Was Burning 'Dog Waste,' Witnesses Say

Much of South Jersey was still in shock after the arrest of a mother who allegedly burned her newborn baby girl alive - and eyewitnesses recalled the horrific images of the incident.

David Joseph, who lives across from where Hyphernkemberly Dorvilier, 22, told the New York Daily News that the murder “was just horrible. Like nothing you’ve ever seen.”

Witnesses say Dorvilier stopped her Land Rover, stepped out with her daughter, put the baby on the ground and doused her in a flammable liquid, according to the Daily News. Joseph thought he had seen someone dumping garbage.

On Saturday afternoon, a neighbor told the Burlington County Times he saw Dorvilier get out of the car and light something on fire in the middle of the street. She told him she was burning dog waste, according to the report.

The 22-year-old Pemberton Township woman has been charged with one count of murder after allegedly dousing her newborn daughter with a flammable liquid and setting her on fire in the roadway Friday night, Burlington County Prosecutor Robert D. Bernardi and Pemberton Township Police Chief David H. Jantas announced.

The United Methodist Church in Browns Mills will host a candlelight vigil for the newborn who was allegedly set on fire by her mother Friday night in Pemberton.

The vigil takes place at the church, 2 Pemberton Browns Mills Road, on Wednesday night, Jan. 21, 7:30 p.m.

Donations to the family can also be made through the church. They can be sent to:

BMUMC
2 Pemberton, Br. Mills.Rd
Browns Mills, NJ 08015

All donations will go through the pastor, who will contact the funeral home and family.

For more on the vigil or the donations, visit the Candlelight Vigil for Pemberton Infant Facebook page.

RELATED STORIES:

• Prosecutor: Mother Set Baby on Fire, Charged With Murder
• UPDATE: Baby Dies After Allegedly ‘Set On Fire’ On South Jersey Road, Doused In Flammable Liquid

Officers from the Pemberton Township Police Department were dispatched to Simontown Road just before 11 p.m. after a resident called to report the fire in the road.

Hyphernkemberly Dorvilier was hysterically crying nearby. She was taken into custody on the scene.

The baby was airlifted to Saint Christopher’s Hospital in Philadelphia. She was reportedly alive and breathing at the time, but she died about two hours later.

Dorvilier was lodged in the Burlington County Corrections and Work Release Center in Pemberton Township on $500,000 bail.

Burlington County Medical Examiner Dr. Ian Hood will perform an autopsy.

Details surrounding the baby’s birth were under investigation.

The Pemberton Township Police Department and the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office are conducting a joint investigation of the incident.

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