California mother pleads guilty in 1994 cold case death of newborn son
By Ricardo Tovar
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SALINAS, California (KSBW) — A Watsonville mother has pleaded guilty to abandoning her newborn son over 30 years ago, causing his death along Garin Road in the Las Lomas area.
Monterey County District Attorney Jeannine M. Pacioni said that Pamela Ferreyra, 61, pleaded guilty to one count of voluntary manslaughter and one count of felony child abuse for the December 1994 death of her infant son.
Pamela Ferreyra in court Friday. Watsonville mother accused of killing newborn in 1994 pleads not guilty She will be sentenced to 13 years and four months in state prison in February 2026, per Pacioni.
“On December 3, 1994, the partial remains of a two-to-three-day-old baby boy were discovered off Garin Road in Prunedale,” said Pacioni. “An autopsy confirmed that the child was born alive, outside of a hospital setting, and that he had not been fed for approximately 24 hours prior to his death.”
The baby, known as Baby Garin, was found stuffed in a grocery bag by a man collecting aluminum cans, per KSBW 8’s past reporting.
Pamela Ferreyra booking photo. Cold Case: Mother arrested for 1994 Monterey County murder of newborn Pacioni added that no missing person report was filed, and at the time, no leads were developed to identify the baby’s parents.
In 2024, DNA analysis identified Ferreyra as the child’s mother. She was then arrested in October 2024.
When interviewed, Ferreyra said she hid her pregnancy from her husband and children, and she delivered the baby alive in her home.
Ferreyra allegedly told investigators that she dressed him, put him in her car, drove him to a remote Prunedale location, and left him there. Pacioni said that Ferreyra never went back to check on her son.
Both offenses are considered violent felonies and are strikes under California law.
“Ferreyra’s guilty plea represents the tenth conviction for a cold-case homicide since the establishment of the Cold Case Task Force,” said Pacioni.
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