A tragic end has come to the case of the 34-year-old woman from Heraklion who, about a year ago, abandoned her newborn baby in a garbage bin. She was found dead on 21 June 2026 inside the Heraklion Police Headquarters—just hours before her trial was due to begin.
Found Unresponsive in Custody
The woman had been transferred to Heraklion ahead of her upcoming court hearing. According to reports by cretalive.gr, she slept normally the previous night and showed no signs of health issues. But this morning, she failed to wake up in her cell. When officers attempted to rouse her, they discovered she had already passed away. Authorities are treating her death as sudden and unexpected. A forensic autopsy is expected to determine the exact cause of death.
Mental Health and Detention Conditions
Her lawyer, Giorgos Karoutsos, stated that his client had an IQ of 48–50 and suffered from schizophrenia. For this reason, she had formally requested detention at the psychiatric wing of the Thebes Prison rather than at the general correctional facility in Korydallos. According to Karoutsos, her transfer to standard prison conditions significantly worsened her health.
Background: A Nation-Shocking Case
This case sent shockwaves across Greece in May 2025. Emergency responders from EKAB discovered the infant wrapped in a blue plastic bag inside a public trash container. Investigators later confirmed that the woman had just given birth and then discarded the baby—claiming she hadn’t even known she was pregnant. Medical staff fought to save the infant’s life and succeeded.