Mom sentenced to 6 years for killing newborn, leaving body in Union City dumpster
UNION CITY, Calif. - A mother was sentenced to six years in prison after admitting she killed her newborn daughter and dumped the baby's body in a trash bin outside a Union City apartment complex, according to prosecutors.
Angela Beth Onduto, 47, pleaded no contest in April to voluntary manslaughter in the 2009 death of the infant, who was originally identified as Baby Jane Doe. Police later gave the child the name Matea Esperanza.
Onduto was sentenced this week.
Prosecutors said Onduto drowned the newborn in a bathtub before placing her body in a dumpster at the Parkside Apartments on Decoto Road.
The baby's body was discovered May 18, 2009, by a man searching through the dumpster for recyclables.
An autopsy determined the infant died by drowning and had been in the dumpster for less than 24 hours, authorities said.
Angela Onduto, 46, was arrested in the cold case of her infant found in a dumpster behind an apartment complex in Union City in 2009.
DNA technology breaks cold case
What we know:
The case remained unsolved for 16 years until investigators used advanced DNA testing to identify the child's parents last year.
Authorities identified the mother as Onduto, who had been living in Colorado. She was arrested in Denver in May 2025 on what would have been Matea's 16th birthday.
The East Bay Times reported Onduto was working as a physical therapist assistant in Colorado at the time of her arrest.
Mother charged with drowning baby in Union City
Alameda County prosecutors have charged a mother with murdering her baby 16 years ago and putting the body in a Dumpster.
Defense cited alcohol use, divorce
What they're saying:
According to the East Bay Times, Onduto's attorneys said in a court filing that she had been drinking heavily in 2009 following a divorce while also coping with an unexpected pregnancy.
The filing said Onduto went into labor alone at her apartment, gave birth in the bathroom and drowned the baby shortly after delivery before placing the infant's body in a dumpster outside the apartment complex.
The Source: This report is based on information from the Alameda County District Attorney's Office, the San Francisco Chronicle, the East Bay Times, and prior reporting.