A 59-year-old Virginia woman has been indicted on murder charges in the 1996 death of her newborn son, whose body was discovered inside a toilet at a Commack movie theater nearly 30 years ago, Suffolk County prosecutors announced Thursday.
Michelle Chronick Tyson, of Virginia, was arrested Oct. 28 in Hampton, Virginia, and extradited to Suffolk County to face two counts of second-degree murder, according to Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney.
Prosecutors allege Tyson, who was 29 at the time, killed her newborn baby boy inside the Commack Multiplex theater on Nov. 18, 1996.
At approximately 12:30 a.m. that day, employees discovered the infant inside a toilet in the women’s bathroom of the movie theater at 100 Express Drive North and immediately contacted police.
An autopsy conducted by the Suffolk County Medical Examiner’s Office determined the baby was born alive and full-term. The cause of death was asphyxia with submersion in water, and the death was ruled a homicide.
Investigators collected a blood sample from the newborn, identified in court documents as Baby Boy Doe, and preserved it as evidence.
The case remained unresolved for decades until advances in DNA technology helped investigators identify the child’s mother.
In 2024, the Suffolk County Cold Case Task Force, which includes investigators from the Suffolk County Police Department and District Attorney’s Office, submitted the preserved blood sample to a private laboratory.
The laboratory developed a single nucleotide polymorphism, or SNP, DNA profile, which investigators used to identify Tyson as the likely biological mother.
On Aug. 26, 2026, investigators obtained a search warrant to collect a DNA sample from Tyson using a cheek swab. Subsequent testing confirmed she was the infant’s biological mother, prosecutors said.
“As alleged, this defendant made a choice back in 1996 to take her newborn child’s life before he ever had the chance to experience the world beyond his first few breaths,” Tierney said.
“The alleged circumstances of this infant’s death are deeply disturbing, and the fact that nearly three decades have passed does not diminish the gravity of this crime,” he added.
Tyson was arraigned Oct. 29 before Acting Supreme Court Justice Steven A. Pilewski on two counts of second-degree murder, both class A felonies.
The judge ordered Tyson held without release while the case proceeds. She is scheduled to return to court Nov. 20 and faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted on the top charge.
Tyson is represented by attorney Christopher Gioe.
The investigation was conducted by Detective Kenneth Buckheit and members of the Suffolk County Cold Case Task Force. Assistant District Attorneys Dana Castaldo, Nicholas J. Santomartino and Andrew Lee are prosecuting the case.
Prosecutors also highlighted New York’s Abandoned Infant Protection Act, commonly known as the Safe Haven law, which allows parents to safely surrender a newborn up to 30 days old without identifying themselves. The law protects parents from prosecution for child abandonment or endangering the welfare of a child if they intend for the baby to be safe and properly cared for. Parents may leave an infant with an appropriate person or at a suitable location, such as a staffed hospital, police station or fire station, provided they promptly notify someone if the baby is left unattended.
Tyson is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Photo: The Commack Multiplex movie theater, where a newborn baby boy was found dead in November 1996. Michelle Chronick Tyson was charged with murder nearly 30 years later. (Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office)
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