DA: Mother of four infants found dead in a South Boston freezer will not face charges

The medical examiner’s office had no way of knowing for certain whether the babies — two boys and two girls — were born alive, Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden said.

Despite identifying the mother and father of four infants whose remains were found in a South Boston apartment freezer in November 2022, officials will not pursue criminal charges in the bizarre case, Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden announced Tuesday.

“This investigation, which is one of the most complex, unusual and perplexing that this office has ever encountered, is now complete,” Hayden said in a statement. “While we do have some answers, there are many elements of this case that will likely never be answered.”

On Nov. 17, 2022, Boston police responded to a 911 call about multiple babies located inside a freezer at 838 East Broadway, the DA’s office said in a press release. The 911 caller explained that he and his wife found the remains while cleaning out his sister’s apartment.

Four full-term babies — two male and two female — were found frozen solid and had been placed in shoe boxes wrapped in tin foil. According to the press release, all four had their umbilical cords attached, and the two girls had their placentas attached as well. DNA tests confirmed the babies were all full siblings, Hayden’s office said.

Autopsies found no evidence of internal or external trauma and no signs of food, milk, or formula in the babies’ stomachs. The medical examiner “reported that there was no scientific method to determine how long the babies had been frozen” and labeled their cause of death “undetermined,” the DA’s office said.

The medical examiner’s office also reportedly had no way of saying for certain whether the babies had been born alive.

How officials tracked down the infants’ parents

Investigators learned that the apartment was owned and occupied by Alexis Aldamir, 69, who likely began living there as early as April 1982, according to the DA’s office. Officials located Aldamir in a residential health care facility and obtained a DNA sample through a court order, concluding that Aldamir was the mother of all four babies.

The investigation also pointed police to a man who had died in 2011 and was likely the babies’ father; a DNA test confirmed his paternity, according to the press release. Aldamir had another baby girl with the same man in April 1982 and gave that child up for adoption.

She worked for an accounting firm in Boston between 1980 and 2021, and co-workers reportedly told investigators they hadn’t known she was pregnant at any point. They said she was a hard worker who rarely took vacations and described her as a heavy-set woman with a penchant for loose clothing, Hayden’s office said.

Why the DA’s office isn’t bringing criminal charges

Authorities ran into several roadblocks as they began to consider whether they could prove any crimes surrounding the discovery of the frozen infants, according to the DA’s office.

Investigators could not prove that the babies were ever alive and had no cause or manner of death, nor any evidence pointing to trauma or injuries. The babies’ father had been dead for more than a decade, and investigators were reportedly skeptical of Aldamir’s ability to stand trial after she appeared confused and unaware during an interview with police.

“A prosecutor’s office cannot ethically move forward with a case that, in good faith, it believes it cannot bring to trial,” the DA’s office said. “Here, based on the evidence obtained throughout the investigation, including the many unanswered questions about the cause of death of the four babies, prosecutors have made the determination that they will not be able to bring this case to trial.”

In his statement, Hayden thanked the prosecutors and investigators who worked on the case.

“All involved in this case did extraordinary work in the face of extraordinary challenges,” he said. “Nearly every investigative avenue led to difficulties resulting from elapsed time, the passing of individuals with potentially relevant information, and other logistical factors. But all avenues were strenuously pursued and as a result we gathered all the facts we could.”

Though the investigation has wrapped and the DA’s office has released its final report, Hayden acknowledged that some elements of the case remain unresolved.

“We will never know exactly where or when the four babies found in Alexis Aldamir’s apartment were born,” he said. “We will never know if the four babies were born alive, and we will never know exactly what happened to them. We will never know how Alexis Aldamir concealed her pregnancies, or why she chose to do so.”