A New Jersey mother who admitted to strangling her newborn daughter and hiding her tiny body was sentenced on Friday to serve seven years in prison.

People reports that according to Bernie Weisenfeld, spokesperson for the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office, 21-year-old Jade Fanz had already pleaded guilty two years prior to second-degree manslaughter after authorities found her newborn baby, a girl, deceased and inside a trash can behind Fanz’s home in Franklin Township.

Court documents indicate that the baby was “just minutes old” in February 2016, when Franz, 19 at the time, applied pressure to the infant’s neck and strangled her to death. She then placed the baby inside a vanity in her bathroom before the infant was transferred to the trash.

Shortly after birth, Franz began hemorrhaging and checked herself into a local hospital. Medical staff became suspicious and contacted authorities. Police found the baby on February 27, 2016, on Franz’s property off of Proposed Avenue.

Prosecutors originally accused of Franz of “unlawfully disturbing, moving or concealing human remains,” murder, and child abuse and neglect. She later took a plea deal for the lesser charge of second-degree manslaughter, which resulted in a sentence of seven years behind bars.

Franz must serve at least 85 percent of her sentence before parole eligibility. There will be no appeal to the court’s decision. Fanz’s attorney called it a “fair and appropriate resolution to the case.”

New Jersey is considered a “Safe Haven” state, meaning people can give up their newborn infants (30 days old and under) legally and anonymously by dropping the babies at a police station, fire station, hospital, first aid center, or with an ambulance.

The motives remains unclear as to why Fanz decided to end the baby’s life instead of safely dropping her off at a safe center, but her lawyer indicated that Franz is remorseful for her actions.

[Feature Photo: Jade Fanz/Salem County Correctional Facility]