A Woman Described as 'Sweet and Shy,' Now Accused of Killing Her Newborn Girl

New York: Jennifer Berry devoted her career to helping others, working in often thankless jobs to aid troubled families, people with mental illness and children.

She studied behavioral science in college. She worked for charities such as Search for Change and the Puerto Rican Family Institute.

She spent six months in the child protective services branch of the New York City Administration for Children's Services.

Yet now, Berry, 33, stands accused of throwing her newborn baby from the seventh-floor window of an apartment building on East 183rd Street in the Bronx. The girl was found in an alleyway last week, dead from blunt force injuries suffered in the fall, her umbilical cord still attached.

The death has led prosecutors in Westchester County to revisit the investigation into the March 2008 death of Berry's infant son, which had been attributed to sudden infant death syndrome.

"All I can remember is how sweet and shy and quiet she was in high school," said Gillian Gabie-Lyons, who graduated with Berry from Dobbs Ferry High School in 2000. "You look at her, and she would smile and blush."

On Monday, Berry, her eyes cast down and her hair knotted in a bun, appeared in state Supreme Court in the Bronx on charges of second-degree murder and manslaughter. Her lawyer, Mitchell Golub, told Justice Marc J. Whiten that she would not testify before a grand jury.

Her next court date is scheduled for Oct. 27.

A woman who appeared to be in court to support Berry declined to identify herself or to talk to the news media. Relatives of Berry have declined to talk about the charges.

Berry apparently hid the final stage of her pregnancy from friends and relatives, and even from her boyfriend, Giovanni Johnson, telling some of them she had miscarried weeks ago, a police official said last week. A man who identified himself as Johnson told The New York Times on Thursday that he could not comment because he was on the telephone with Berry, who was being held at the Rikers Island jail complex.

"This situation has me sad," he said later. "It's got me really shaken up."

Johnson also said he believed he was the father of the newborn. "I lost a daughter, you know what I mean?" he said, his voice trembling.

Johnson's mother, Tressonya Johnson, said she did not know Berry was pregnant. "What I'm saying is my family is really going through something right now - a real big hardship," she said. "We're torn apart."

Berry was the second of three children. After their father died, Berry's mother, Donna Berry, moved the family from Yonkers to another Westchester community, Dobbs Ferry.

Berry was well liked, said Gabie-Lyons, who shared English and history classes with her. About 70 people were in the graduating class.

Gabie-Lyons cried while thinking about the crime Berry is now accused of committing.

"It's not like her," Gabie-Lyons said. "It's not the Jennifer I knew in high school."

Another classmate, Doug, a bartender at Doubleday's Bar and Restaurant in Dobbs Ferry who would give only his first name, said Berry made an impression because she was more than six feet tall.

"Softest spoken girl I ever met in my life," he said. "She might've been voted friendliest in class, that's how nice she was. I never heard her say 'boo.' She didn't have a temper."

She did not participate in extracurricular activities, Doug said, but she was a good student.

"She came to school every day, she never had an issue with teachers, she was well dressed, well kept, she came to games, she went to parties, she did the whole school thing," he said. "The only thing was she was awkwardly quiet: She was friends with everybody, but you never heard her talk."

Berry's family bought a full-page ad in the school yearbook, wishing her well. It featured pictures of her as a baby, little girl and teenager. "Jennifer, you are heart of my heart, soul of my soul," the ad said. "You walk in gentleness with a hint of a Leo's roar. We love you without measure ... The Berry Bunch."

After graduating high school, Berry seemed to start herself on a similar path to her mother's, who spent her career helping those in need. According to her LinkedIn profile, Donna Berry was the director of continuing care at St. John's Riverside Hospital, facilitating a cancer support group and coordinating a child-abuse committee. She also was a social work consultant and worked with patients who were mentally ill, addicted to drugs and alcohol, or homeless.

Jennifer Berry studied human services at Westchester Community College, a typical major for people interested in social work. She graduated in December 2002 and then went to Mercy College in Dobbs Ferry, earning a bachelor of arts in behavioral science in May 2006.

At some point, Berry worked for the Search for Change charity, which helps people with mental illness in Westchester and Putnam counties. Ashley Brody, the chief operating officer, declined to say when she worked at the charity, citing her privacy. He said Berry did not work with children.

"She has not worked with us for several years," Brody said. "This is a horrible tragedy."

Berry was employed by the Administration for Children's Services from July 2007 to January 2008, working in the child protective services branch. The agency said she spent her first three months there training in a classroom setting, then moved into a job where she had limited contact with families.

In late February or early March 2008, Berry gave birth to a son, who died less than three weeks later. At the time, she appeared to have been in a longtime relationship with a man named Derrick Hermantin, who did not return messages. He posted a photograph of the two of them on Facebook in June 2008.

A man who answered the door at a home in Altamonte Springs, Florida, where Hermantin once lived, identified himself as Hermantin's half brother.

At one point, Donna Berry wrote on Facebook about her Mother's Day, thanking "Jennifer and Derrick for the car wash." For some reason, Berry missed the celebration. Her mother wrote, "I missed being with you Jen but I do understand (I love you)."

Months after her infant son died, Jennifer Berry started a job as a case manager at the Puerto Rican Family Institute, a charity based in New York City that helps Latino families stay together. She worked there from August 2008 to September 2013.

"We are deeply saddened by this tragic incident," John Best, the director of human resources, wrote in an email. He did not respond to questions about why Berry left or whether she worked with children.

It is not clear whether Berry worked after leaving that position. She seemed to remain close to her family, a constant in her life.

Looking radiant in a photo posted to Facebook, Berry posed in a purple gown that matched her mother's at her older sister's wedding in May. In another shot, she, her sister and younger brother all smiled and squeezed together for a picture with their mother last year.