Melissa Drexler, who was nicknamed in the media as "The Prom Mom", is an American woman who, as a teenage high school student in 1997, delivered a baby in a restroom stall during her high school
prom
A promenade dance or prom is a formal dance party for graduating high school students at the end of the school year.
Students participating in the prom will typically vote for a ''prom king'' and ''prom queen''. Other students may be honored ...
dance. The baby was later found dead in a trash bin, and Drexler pleaded guilty to aggravated
manslaughter
Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th ce ...
, having put the infant in the trash can and then returned to the dance. She was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment. After serving a little over three years, she was released on parole.
Early life
Drexler was an only child from a
middle-class
The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. Commo ...
Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
family
and lived in
Forked River, New Jersey.
She attended
Lacey Township High School
Lacey Township High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades, located in the Lanoka Harbor section of Lacey Township, in Ocean County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, which opera ...
in the
Lanoka Harbor section of
Lacey Township, New Jersey
Lacey Township is a township in Ocean County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey and is considered part of the Jersey Shore and South Jersey regions, as well as of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, the township' ...
and had plans for a career in the
fashion industry
Fashion is a term used interchangeably to describe the creation of clothing, footwear, Fashion accessory, accessories, cosmetics, and jewellery of different cultural aesthetics and their mix and match into Clothing, outfits that depict distinct ...
.
Pregnancy
Drexler kept her pregnancy secret from the baby's likely father John Lewis,
her parents and friends. At tall, and about , she apparently showed no signs of her pregnancy.
On June 6, 1997, Drexler gave birth in a bathroom stall at her senior prom, twenty minutes after complaining of stomach cramps in the car she had arrived in. She retrieved the baby from the toilet bowl, placed it in a plastic bag, and deposited it in a trash can. It is thought that she severed the
umbilical cord
In Placentalia, placental mammals, the umbilical cord (also called the navel string, birth cord or ''funiculus umbilicalis'') is a conduit between the developing embryo or fetus and the placenta. During prenatal development, the umbilical cord i ...
on the serrated edge of a
sanitary napkin
A menstrual pad is an absorbent item worn in the underwear when menstruating, bleeding after giving birth, recovering from gynecologic surgery, experiencing a miscarriage or abortion, or in any other situation where it is necessary to absorb ...
dispenser and suffocated the child.
According to the prosecutor, a friend asked if she was all right, and she replied "I'll be done pretty soon. Go tell the boys we'll be right out." She then returned to the dance floor, ate a salad, and danced with her boyfriend. When Drexler and her friends were asked by teachers about the blood in the bathroom, she replied that she was having a heavy
menstrual period
The menstrual cycle is a series of natural changes in hormone production and the structures of the uterus and ovaries of the female reproductive system that makes pregnancy possible. The ovarian cycle controls the production and release of eg ...
. The baby was discovered in a trash bin by a janitor, after a school nurse cleaned the bloody bathroom stall, emptied the trash can, and became suspicious of the weight of the trash bag.
Criminal proceedings
As part of a
plea agreement A plea bargain, also known as a plea agreement or plea deal, is a legal arrangement in criminal law where the defendant agrees to plead guilty or no contest to a charge in exchange for concessions from the prosecutor. These concessions can include ...
, Drexler pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter on August 20, 1998.
As of 2011
court transcripts had not been released.
She was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
On November 26, 2001, she was freed on parole after serving three years and one month.
See also
*
Infanticide
Infanticide (or infant homicide) is the intentional killing of infants or offspring. Infanticide was a widespread practice throughout human history that was mainly used to dispose of unwanted children, its main purpose being the prevention of re ...
*
Neonaticide
Neonaticide is the deliberate act of a parent murdering their own child during the first 24 hours of life. As a noun, the word "neonaticide" may also refer to anyone who practices or who has practiced this.
Neonaticide is relatively rare in d ...
*
Véronique Courjault
Véronique Courjault (née Fièvre; born 1968) is a French woman who confessed to killing three of her newborn children. Two of the infants were found stored in a freezer at her home, a case that drew significant media attention. This case becam ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Drexler, Melissa
1978 births
American people convicted of manslaughter
Filicides in the United States
Infanticide
Child murder in New Jersey
Living people
Lacey Township High School alumni
People from Lacey Township, New Jersey
Place of birth missing (living people)