Neighbors memorialize a newborn they never knew
Police have charged a New Jersey mother with setting her infant ablaze. The community is struggling to make sense of it.
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ALL THAT'S left is a soggy cliche, a makeshift memorial on a lonely stretch of road in New Jersey where people chuck empty beer cans into the woods without slowing down.
Flowers, ribbons, police tape, an electric candle. Cheery stuffed animals that lose their charm as soon as it rains.
Atop this sad totem pole, there's a white teddy bear in a ballerina outfit with the words "Camden pray for you" written across the front.
Pemberton Township residents placed the items there in memory of a baby whose name they don't know. They call the child "it" because they don't know if "it" was a boy or a girl.
They just know that on Friday night an infant was set on fire at the edge of Simontown Road, as if the mother had planned to leave her newborn with the miscellaneous debris that gathers along the shoulder.
Dave Joseph, who lives about 75 yards away and made the discovery, was still trying to shake the image yesterday.
"It was . . . man, it was that horrific," Joseph said. "It's a horrendous thing for any mother to do to their child. Or for anybody to do to anybody."
Burlington County Prosecutor Robert Bernardi and Pemberton Township Police Chief David Jantas announced Saturday that Hyphernkemberly Dorvilier, 22, had been charged with murder for allegedly setting fire to the child about 11 p.m. Friday.
An autopsy hadn't been performed by Burlington County Medical Examiner Ian Hood as of last night.
Joseph said Dorvilier, who lives about a mile away, originally told him she was burning dog waste when he confronted her outside his house. She poured water on the child to put the flames out.
"We thought it was just trash, but it ended up being a baby," he said. "My wife heard the cry, and all hell broke loose."
Joseph said he held Dorvilier until police arrived to take her into custody. Police believe she doused the infant in an accelerant.
The baby was airlifted to St. Christopher's Hospital for Children, but was pronounced dead two hours later.
Since news of Dorvilier's arrest spread on Saturday, nobody has been answering the door at the split-level home on Rutgers Avenue where she lives.
Neighbors say they don't know much about the Dorviliers.
"I've heard they are a good family," Joseph said.