A 21-year-old Taita woman has been charged with murder following the death of a newborn baby girl whose body was found last week dumped in the back yard of a Hutt Valley property.
Inspector Shane Cotter says the woman who had been earlier identified as the baby's mother has been charged on Tuesday evening.
The woman is set to appear in Lower Hutt District Court on Wednesday morning.
The baby girl, who appeared to be no more than 24 hours old, was found last Monday by a woman who had gone outside a suburban Taita home to hang the washing.
Police found the mother of the baby girl the next day during a canvass of the area.
Insp Cotter says the mother has no connection to the residents of the property where the baby was found.
"The circumstances surrounding the baby girl's tragic death have been fully investigated by police," he said.
"Part of the investigation has been to determine the identity of the father of this baby. We believe we know who this man is, but we are awaiting DNA results to confirm paternity."
NZN