PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — The 32-year-old mother accused of killing her 3-year-old daughter in Albany made her first court appearance Monday after her arrest early Saturday.
Rebekah Gasperino was arrested following a 2:30 a.m. traffic stop when officers got information she may be a danger to herself and others, including her child.
Albany police rushed to a home in the 2000 block of Sun Place SE in Albany and found 3-year-old Sophia dead inside. No other children were in the home at that time, officials said.
Gasperino now faces an aggravated murder charge, one of the few crimesstill eligible for death in Oregon after the 2019 passage of SB 1013. Aggravated murder is defined, in part, as “premeditated and committed intentionally against a person under 14 years of age.”
She also faces unlawful use of a weapon/aggravated assault and criminal mistreatment. She is being held without bail.
Authorities said the child’s father and other family members were notified and are cooperating.