Melissa Mitin
Mitin's attorney has expressed concern about her psychological well-being. After hearing this sordid story, you will likely agree. Mitin was charged in the first murder that took place in December 2013. The young woman allegedly gave birth to her newborn daughter in a friend's bathroom. She then put the crying baby in a trashcan, where she was later found face-down.
Out on a $5,000 bond and living with her parents as a master's student, Mitin found herself pregnant again. Mitin hid her second pregnancy from friends and family, as she had done with the first. After giving birth to a second baby, a son, three weeks ago, Mitin told authorities that she "could not recall" the whereabouts of the baby.
Sadly, a dead newborn boy was just found at a local Roseville recycling center. Authorities believe that the baby boy was only three days old when he was killed and are now investigating a link between Mitin and the baby's death.
When stories like this surface, we are always looking for an answer — somewhere to place the blame. What kind of mother would be capable of birthing two children, killing them and throwing them in the trash?
If Mitin did commit the crimes she has been accused of, there's a very troubling explanation in her past. The young woman's parents report being staunchly against premarital sex, so much so that Mitin may have chosen to hide both of her pregnancies to avoid disapproval.
Deborah Mitin, Mitin's mother and an attorney, said in her testimony at last year's preliminary hearing, "We've never had the sex talk when they were growing up. You know, from our church upbringing."
There's no way to link the murder of two infants to how a young woman was raised. But, and this is a big but, I too was raised in the no-sex-before-marriage Christian environment, and all it has brought me is shame, guilt and more shame.
What this young woman has allegedly done is inexcusable. But it is clear that she never received the support she needed at home to understand sex, pregnancy and eventual motherhood. If you are looking for answers in this case, here they are: Talk openly with your children about everything, even the subjects that make you uncomfortable. Keeping any topic taboo in your house only hurts your kids.
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