On 911 calls, disgust and anger when baby found afire

A Burlington County mother accused of lighting her newborn baby on fire on a neighborhood street repeatedly said, "I'm sorry," as a man held her down, according to a recording of a chaotic 911 call obtained by The Inquirer through a public records request.

"You're disgusting," a woman who was on the phone to 911 said to Hyphernkemberly Dorvilier, 22, as she and other shocked residents on Simontown Road in Pemberton Township waited for police to arrive.

"It's not mine," Dorvilier replied, as heard on the call. "It's not mine."

Then she said, "I didn't do it, I didn't do it, I didn't do it."

Dorvilier has been charged with murder in the Jan. 16 death of her daughter, whom family members later named Angelica. Authorities said Dorvilier had given birth to Angelica - who still had the umbilical cord attached - hours before the girl's death.

It took police and paramedics more than seven minutes to arrive.

A dispatcher at first could not understand the correct address from a frantic 911 caller. Another neighbor also reported fighting and screaming in the street before discovering the child.

"There's a baby on fire," the first 911 caller told dispatchers. In the background, a man could be heard telling Dorvilier to get down. "You're not going anywhere," he told her.

Another dispatcher then came into the call.

"I'm sorry, what is on fire?" that dispatcher asked.

"A child," the first dispatcher told him. "An infant!" the caller screamed.

The second dispatcher asked if the baby was breathing.

"I don't know if the baby's breathing," the woman responded. "Just send someone."

As the call continued, the woman said, "You're disgusting," to Dorvilier before telling the dispatcher, "It's dead."

About a minute later, the woman reported that the baby was alive. "Oh, my God, it's still breathing," she said.

Dorvilier's first audible words emerged soon afterward. "I'm sorry," she said.

"You just had the baby," the 911 caller told Dorvilier.

"I didn't know," Dorvilier replied.

"Well, then, who had it?" the woman asked. "How could you do this? You should have dropped it off at the hospital."

"I'm sorry," Dorvilier said, repeating that several times.

Dorvilier remains jailed in Burlington County on $500,000 bail.

Authorities said she hid the pregnancy from her mother and younger sister, with whom she shared a split-level house in the 200 block of Rutgers Avenue in Pemberton Township. She gave birth alone in the ground-level bathroom, where police later found a bloody toilet and rag.

Why Dorvilier brought the baby nearly two miles away to Simontown Road - where she allegedly told a resident she was burning dog feces - is unclear. The father's identity is also unknown.

A memorial service was held Monday for Angelica at Browns Mills United Methodist Church. A vigil there last week also brought out more than 100 people, many of whom tearfully embraced Dorvilier's mother and two sisters.