A 24 year-old woman was sentenced to one day in prison, after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the death of her newborn baby on a Caribbean cruise onboard Carnival Dream.

Four years ago Alicia Keir boarded Carnival cruise ship to celebrate her friend’s birthday. During the cruise while the ship was in St. Maarten she experienced labour pains and give birth alone in a stateroom without calling for medical assistance. Without any of her friends knowing about her situation she wrapped the child in a towel, and placed her under her bed.  The stateroom steward responsible for her cabin found the body when the ship arrived in its homeport. Forensic autopsy determined the baby was born alive, and would survived if Alicia took care of the baby.

Alicia Keir was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Rudy Lozano to one day in prison at a hearing and granted her credit for time served. She will also serve two years on supervised release.The federal sentencing guidelines recommended a minimum of 33 months for involuntary manslaughter.