COMMACK, NY — A 59-year-old Virginia woman has been indicted on murder charges in connection with the death of her newborn son, who was found inside a toilet at a Commack movie theater nearly 30 years ago, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said Thursday.
Michelle Chronick Tyson, of Virginia, was indicted on two counts of second-degree murder in the November 1996 death of the infant, prosecutors said. Tyson, who was 29 at the time, was arrested Wednesday in Hampton, Virginia, and extradited to Suffolk County.
The arrest followed a cold case investigation that used DNA evidence collected from the newborn in 1996 to identify Tyson as his biological mother, according to prosecutors.
According to prosecutors, employees at the Commack Multiplex, located at 100 Express Drive North, discovered the infant inside a toilet in the women's bathroom at around 12:30 a.m. on Nov. 18, 1996.
The employees immediately contacted law enforcement, authorities said.
An autopsy conducted later that day by the Suffolk County Medical Examiner's Office determined that the baby, identified as "Baby Boy Doe," was a full-term newborn boy who had been born alive.
The medical examiner determined that the infant died from asphyxia with submersion in water and ruled the death a homicide, prosecutors said.
Investigators with the Suffolk County Crime Laboratory collected a blood sample from the infant, which was preserved as evidence for nearly three decades.
The Suffolk County Cold Case Task Force, which consists of members of the Suffolk County Police Department and Suffolk County District Attorney's Office, submitted the preserved blood sample to a private laboratory in 2024.
The laboratory generated a single nucleotide polymorphism, or SNP, DNA profile, allowing investigators to pursue new leads in the decades-old case, prosecutors said.
During the investigation, authorities identified Tyson as the likely biological mother of the infant.
Investigators obtained a search warrant to collect a cheek swab from Tyson on Aug. 26. Subsequent DNA testing confirmed that she was the baby's biological mother, according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors did not provide additional details about how investigators determined Tyson was allegedly responsible for the infant's death beyond confirming she was the child's biological mother.
Tyson was arraigned Thursday before Acting Supreme Court Justice Steven Pilewski on two counts of second-degree murder, both class A felonies.
Pilewski ordered Tyson remanded into custody pending further court proceedings.
She is scheduled to return to court Nov. 20 and faces up to 25 years to life in prison if convicted on the top charge, prosecutors said.
Tyson is represented by attorney Christopher Gioe, who was not immediately available for comment.
New York's Abandoned Infant Protection Act, also known as the Safe Haven law, currently allows parents who are unable or unwilling to care for a newborn to surrender an infant up to 30 days old at designated locations, including hospitals and staffed police or fire stations. The law was enacted after the 1996 incident.
"As alleged, this defendant made a choice back in 1996 to take her newborn child's life before he ever had the chance to experience the world beyond his first few breaths," Tierney said. "The alleged circumstances of this infant's death are deeply disturbing, and the fact that nearly three decades have passed does not diminish the gravity of this crime. Every child deserves the chance to live, to grow and to thrive. This infant was robbed of that chance, and we are committed to pursuing justice for a life that was tragically and selfishly cut short."
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