The day after Mother's Day, a Phoenix mom has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the death of her 6-day-old baby girl, Maya.
According to court documents obtained by New Times, 36-year-old Nina Koistinen admitted to smothering the baby girl last month because she "had too many kids already."
See also:
-UnHappy Mother's Day: Worst Moms in the Valley
-Mom in "Church" Not Big on Birth Control
-Nina Koistinen, Accused of Killing 6-Day-Old Baby, Was the "Greatest Mother," Husband Says
-Nina Koistinen Says She Killed Her Baby Because She "Had Too Many Kids Already"
Koistinen's husband found his 6-day-old daughter, Maya, unresponsive inside their home, near 56th Street and Thunderbird Road, on the morning of April 8.
Maya was pronounced dead that morning at a hospital.
Police didn't arrest Koistinen after her initial interview with police but did after her second interview, conducted almost three weeks ago at Phoenix PD headquarters.
According to court documents, "possible signs of suffocation" were discovered during an autopsy, and police dug up the Child Protective Services records on Koistinen.
In addition to previously telling a CPS worker that she wanted her children "to go to Heaven in a vehicle accident that appeared intentional," she talked about "wanting to smother some of her children," according to the documents.
Court records don't specify when those comments were made, but a CPS report says the agency "had received no prior reports alleging abuse or neglect of Maya Koistinen by Nina Koistinen."
When police interviewed Koistinen the second time, she made the admissions.
"During the interview, Nina admitted she smothered Maya because she thought she had too many kids already and she was jealous of the attention [her husband] was giving baby Maya," a probable-cause statement says. "The father . . . was put in the interview room with Nina and she admitted to him that she pinched Maya's nose, twisted, suffocated, and smothered baby Maya."
With her not-guilty plea to a first-degree murder charge, Koistinen's next court date is scheduled for June 21.
Send feedback and tips to the author.
Follow Matthew Hendley on Twitter at @MatthewHendley.
