Identified! GA- Male infant, “Jonathan Foundling”, fatally stabbed, University of Georgia,1996 - DNA Identified mother, Kathryn Grant (deceased) 2023

[dotr]

A 1996 Murdered Infant from Athens, GA is Identified

University of Georgia PD Partners with Othram to Identify a 1996 Murdered Infant

dnasolves.com

''In January of 1996, officers responded to the Oglethorpe House Residence Hall located at the University of Georgia. They found a deceased infant in a trashcan at the basement level women's restroom. The infant described as male and Caucasian, and weighed about 7-8 pounds. The medical examiner later determined that the infant's death was a homicide that resulted from stab wounds to the chest area.

The baby, christened “Jonathan Foundling” by police officials, was buried at Evergreen Memorial Park in Athens at a funeral attended by more than 200 people. UGA police served as pallbearers. Substantial investigative effort was put towards the case but with few leads to pursue, the case soon went cold.

In 2021, the University of Georgia Police partnered with Othram to see if advanced DNA testing could help generate new leads in the case. Investigators brought forensic DNA evidence from the murdered infant to Othram's laboratory in The Woodlands, Texas. Othram scientists developed a suitable DNA extract from the forensic evidence and then used Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing® to build a comprehensive DNA profile for the infant. Othram's in-house genetic genealogy team used the profile in a genealogical search and developed investigative leads that were returned back to law enforcement.

The returned leads, the follow up investigation by law enforcement, and confirmation DNA testing resulted in the confirmed identification of the mother and father of the infant. The mother of the infant was identified as, Kathryn Anne Grant, who was enrolled at the University of Georgia and she was living at Oglethorpe House at the time of the infant's murder. She later withdrew from UGA in the spring of 1996 and transferred later to South Carolina. The case is considered exceptionally cleared, at this point, as the mother took her own life in 2004, at the age of 29.

The University of Georgia Police Department has closed the case.''

 

[dotr]

<modsnip - not an approved source>

Young Mother Sentenced in Stabbing Death of Newborn Son

Cassandra Elyse Norwood, 23, was found guilty of stabbing the infant in 2012.

patch.com

''2014
There was another case in Athens of a newborn being stabbed to death. In early January 1996, a custodian in UGA's Oglethorpe House found a newborn's body that had sustained more than 40 stab wounds before being dumped in a trash can. The mother was presumed to have been a UGA student who killed her child, but she was never identified and no one was ever charged in the incident. Dubbed Jonathan Foundling, the baby was buried in Evergreen Cemetery.

In that case, UGA Police officials talked with experts and other law enforcement officials who had dealt with similar situations. They said that 80 percent of baby murders occur where the mother lives. In 70 percent of those cases, the mother kills the baby and in 95 percent, she acts alone.''

 

[Laughing]

Will anyone who knew KG at the university some forward and tell LE more?

Wondering if KG was a rape victim, to show such rage imho?

 

[LadyL]

why so violent?
maybe she had a psychotic break?

 

[wary]

why so violent?
maybe she had a psychotic break?

I checked quickly, and this website says that post-partum psychosis can develop within ‘hours’ of giving birth.

Postpartum psychosis

Information on postpartum psychosis (psychosis after childbirth), with links to other useful resources.

www.nhs.uk

 

[summergirl1]

Yeah, stab wounds is unusual in stories like this although of course there's many cases like this where an abandoned/murdered baby is found dead..that's not the unusual part of this case, unfortunately, as it is many other similar stories. What is the most unusual about this case is the manner of death.

 

[summergirl1]

Kate's obit.https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/onlineathens/name/kate-grant-obituary?id=29819137

 

[Susikatze]

She was medically trained (human pregnancies and birth are not all too different from animal), she must have known about her pregnancy. She probably denied it. It is interesting she apparently led a regular life on the outside (colleagues describe her as always smiling and happy) but the inside was not so happy... she must have battled mental illness all along.
Rest in peace mom and baby

 

[sleepyowl99]

They solved the case by using DNA paternity test, which helped identify the mother, Kathryn Anne Grant.

 

[Reasonable & Just]

She was medically trained (human pregnancies and birth are not all too different from animal), she must have known about her pregnancy. She probably denied it. It is interesting she apparently led a regular life on the outside (colleagues describe her as always smiling and happy) but the inside was not so happy... she must have battled mental illness all along.
Rest in peace mom and baby

There are many things I don’t understand about mental illness. She had this break, but still had it together enough to take all the steps required to transfer to a college in another state? Would she have stabbed the baby, disposed of him, and then forgotten it all? Would she have justified it? Minimized it? Would she have ever regretted it?

 

[Laughing]

There are many things I don’t understand about mental illness. She had this break, but still had it together enough to take all the steps required to transfer to a college in another state? Would she have stabbed the baby, disposed of him, and then forgotten it all? Would she have justified it? Minimized it? Would she have ever regretted it?

From the initial post:

as the mother took her own life in 2004

imho, yes, she deeply regretted what happened.

 

[Sulamith]

I suppose it is possible that the father of the infant killed him. I wonder if he is still living and has been interviewed by LE.

 

[longthymelurker]

This article has a lot of information in it including about the father.
UGA police identify mother of newborn killed in dorm in 1996

 

[EmiliaRT007]

OMG! What kind of sick individual would stab a newborn to death?! Gosh, some people are sick. Who does that?! RIP Jonathan. I’m wondering who killed him. Did KG do it? If so, I wonder if she was battling mental illness or postpartum depression. Postpartum depression can develop within hours of giving birth. No excuses of course but I myself have a few mental illnesses and I can tell you that they really do, they make some people do some crazy and twisted sh**. KG ended up taking her own life. Man, Jonathan’s death probably haunted her for years after it happened. Super sad all around.