Baby shaken to death? Child’s mother charged with manslaughter at the Regional Court

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Mika* was just seven months old: the child’s mother is alleged to have shaken the infant so violently in her Leipzig flat in 2024 that he suffered severe brain injuries, as a result of which he died the following day. The woman, now 24, has been standing trial for manslaughter at the Leipzig Regional Court since Wednesday, 19 August 2026.

The press photographers are already waiting as Linda W.*, who is currently at liberty, enters the small courtroom at Leipzig Regional Court early on this Wednesday morning. The 24-year-old is determined not to be recognised; she has pulled a hood over her head and is hiding her face behind a folder whilst sitting next to her solicitor. Later, the defendant will break down in tears.

Infant died from irreversible brainstem damage

The prosecution accuses the Leipzig woman of manslaughter: According to the charges, in the morning of 29 April 2024, she is alleged to have shaken her then seven-month-old son Mika so violently in her flat in the Grünau district that the boy suffered severe trauma, bleeding in the cranial cavity and brain damage. One day after the incident, Mika died at 4.30 pm in hospital, according to court records, as a result of irreversible damage to the brainstem.

Linda W. knew that shaking the baby could have potentially fatal consequences, which she willingly accepted, said Public Prosecutor Torsten Naumann whilst reading out the indictment.

Defendant intends to make a statement on the next day of the trial

Linda W. had dialled the emergency number herself and, whilst initially put on hold, is said to have panicked and also alerted a neighbour because Mika had stopped breathing. But for the baby, any help came too late. At the start of the trial on Wednesday, proceedings ended immediately after the indictment was read out: According to her defence lawyer, Henrike Wittner, her client will comment on the charges at the next court hearing.

The proceedings will resume on Friday. The First Criminal Division, presided over by Johann Jagenlauf, has scheduled a further five hearings in total up to 9 September.

In the event of a conviction for manslaughter, German criminal law generally provides for a prison sentence of between five and fifteen years. Whether this will be the outcome, or whether a less serious offence might be considered – which would reduce the minimum sentence to one year – remains to be seen as the trial progresses.

* All names in this text have been changed.