BATTLE CREEK, MI (WTVB) – Charges will not be filed against a 78-year-old Battle Creek woman who confessed to killing her own infant son in Tekonsha over half a century ago. Janice Summerfield reportedly told one of her daughters that she smothered the 8-month-old boy because she could not handle dealing with three children.
The cause of death listed in 1961 was that the baby choked on his formula. Calhoun County authorities exhumed the body but could not verify or refute her claim, due to the condition of the infant.
Prosecutors say the poor health of the elderly woman, the inability after all these years to prove what she says and that the fact that her deteriorating mental condition makes her less than credible all played a role in their decision not to resurrect the 1961 death investigation.
A set of her twins also died under mysterious circumstances.
