A 25-year-old Brooklyn woman accused of killing her newborn daughter thought she was "constipated," not pregnant, the woman's attorney claimed yesterday.
"One thing is for certain, she didn't know she was pregnant and her family didn't know she was pregnant. No one knew," lawyer Thomas Cascione insisted at Laura Sergio's arraignment last night.
Sergio, clad in gray sweats and clutching a yellow jacket, sat silently in Brooklyn Criminal Court as she was charged with murder, a crime punishable by 25 years to life in prison.
She was held without bail pending a hearing Thursday.
Cops said Sergio gave birth Friday in the bathroom of her family's Bay Ridge home and then smothered the 6-pound baby girl with a towel and a garbage bag.
After she had her older sister, Andria, 27, dump the infant on the back porch, Sergio went to Lutheran Medical Center for treatment, cops said.
The baby died of asphyxiation and hypothermia, the medical examiner said.
Assistant District Attorney Jacqueline Kagan said Sergio callously "left a helpless victim to die while she received medical treatment for several hours."
But Cascione insisted his client was "dazed and confused. There was no coverup."
He said Sergio's parents thought she was constipated and "gave her prune juice as a laxative."
The family was planning a Catholic funeral for the yet-unnamed dead infant in the coming weeks.
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