A dead newborn was discovered on Wednesday morning in a residential complex in Berlin-Lichterfelde. The mother is believed to be a 14-year-old girl from a Roma family who allegedly gave birth to the child in an eighth-floor apartment and then threw the newborn out a the window.
The 14-year-old has been taken into police custody, according to sources who spoke with German news outlet Nius.
The fire department was alerted around 9:37 a.m. to a high-rise residential area on Réaumurstrasse in the Thermometersiedlung district. Witnesses had found the lifeless infant in the courtyard of a residential block and called the emergency services. Rescue workers and a doctor could do nothing more than confirm the baby’s death.
The baby’s umbilical cord was still attached. According to police, the newborn was only a few hours old, and at most, just one day old.
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— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) May 23, 2026The 14-year-old girl is said to have initially believed she was getting her period but she then gave birth to the child in an eighth-floor apartment and then threw the newborn out of the window.
A Berlin homicide squad is now investigating the potential murder case, with evidence being secured, and witnesses questioned. Investigators reportedly also searched the trash bins around the residential complex.
Police spokesperson Florian Nath said on site: “We assume that the child was born only recently.” He added: “It was only several hours old, at most one day old.” A police spokeswoman told the Tagesspiegel.
The body was taken to the forensic medicine institute. An autopsy will determine the exact cause of death, and a death investigation has been opened. Police are urgently searching for the mother, who may be in a state of psychological distress.
“At the moment we still have no concrete lead,” Nath stated. He described the investigation as “very stressful for everyone involved.”
A 29-year-old mother with a six-month-old baby said: “It’s impossible to understand. There are so many ways to give a child away safely. There are baby hatches, you can leave it with the fire department, a neighbor, or the police at the door. And even if it had been stillborn, I would still call the fire department.”
Young residents in the area reacted with horror: “That’s sick. You don’t have to throw a baby somewhere — you can also put it up for adoption. Don’t the parents have a heart?”
