On March 3, 1999, a plastic trash bag was tossed from a moving vehicle onto the side of Canady Pond Road in southern Cumberland County. Hours later, a soldier driving on the road spotted the bag and what appeared to be a doll inside. Inside the bag was no doll, instead, it was a baby boy, not even 24 hours old, his umbilical cord still attached.
Cumberland County Sheriff's Office detectives determined the child died of blunt force trauma.
Then Sheriff Moose Butler publicly pleaded for the parents to come forward. When no one did, he and his staff made plans to see that the baby received a proper burial.
The Sheriff’s Office didn’t want the baby to be buried without a name, so he was dubbed “Baby Michael”, after the Patron Saint of Law Enforcement Officers.
A funeral service was held March 30, 1999, at Hair’s Chapel Free Will Holiness Church on Duck Pond Road. Baby Michael was buried in the church cemetery.
Detectives have never given up working on this homicide, and finally got a break in the case. Baby Michael’s DNA was sent to Bode Technology, who specializes in forensic genealogy services, for comparison. The results gave a family line, and it was up to the detectives to narrow the suspect field.
With only 12 days until the 21st anniversary of the Baby Michael, Sheriff’s Office Detectives have finally closed the case. Detectives drove to Burke County North Carolina to interview a woman they felt was very likely Michael’s mother. During the interview, 54 year old Deborah Riddle O’Conner told detectives she was the baby’s mother.
After concluding the interview, detectives took her into custody and transported her to Cumberland County. There, O’Conner was charged with First Degree Murder and booked into the Cumberland County Detention Center where she received no bond. She will have her first appearance on Friday, February 21, 2020, at 2:30 pm.
Republished courtesy of Cumberland County NC Sheriff's Office. Photo credit: Sheriff's Office