Trial in Newborn's Death Rescheduled for Angela Marie Croucher in Baker City

Judge Matt Shirtcliff on Feb. 12 rescheduled the trial for Angela Marie Croucher to the week of Nov. 2–6, 2026 and set a status check hearing for April 24, 2026 in Baker County Circuit Court at the Baker County Courthouse. The change follows a continuance motion filed by Croucher’s Baker City attorney, William Thomson.

Prosecutors allege Croucher failed to adequately care for a newborn found in her home on Dec. 30, 2024; a grand jury later indicted her on five charges including second-degree manslaughter. Baker County District Attorney Greg Baxter has said he believes Croucher gave birth to the baby and that it was alive. Second-degree manslaughter is a Measure 11 crime in Oregon that carries a mandatory minimum prison term of 75 months on conviction.

Baker City Police arrested Angela Marie Croucher on May 12, 2025. Judge Shirtcliff initially set bail at $400,000 and then reduced it to $185,000 on May 16, 2025; Croucher posted 10 percent of that reduced bail, $18,500, and was released from the Baker County Jail on July 7, 2025. In a declaration filed with the court, Thomson wrote that Croucher’s family could post $10,000 but could not afford the $18,500 and wrote, “Defendant would be amenable to any additional release conditions imposed by the Court.”

Timelines in the case record show efforts to accommodate pretrial preparation. Based on the May 12, 2025 arrest date, Croucher would have been entitled to a trial no later than July 12 absent any waiver or judicial extension; on June 4, 2025 Judge Shirtcliff made a good-cause finding that extended the speedy-trial deadline by another 60 days through Sept. 12 and set a July 28 status check. At that June hearing Thomson described the matter as a “complex” case with “considerable scientific evidence” likely requiring expert witnesses, and the district attorney did not object to the extension. The court previously scheduled hearings in mid-June and late July 2025 as part of that process.

Both Thomson and Baxter told Judge Shirtcliff at a December 2025 hearing that they expect to call medical experts at trial. Thomson filed a formal motion for continuance on Jan. 21, 2026; the court granted a continuance in early February that postponed a March trial date. Baker County court filings and the Feb. 12 proceeding contain an internal inconsistency about the originally scheduled March start date, pages reference both March 9 and March 13, but the court’s confirmed, current schedule is the Nov. 2–6, 2026 trial week and the April 24, 2026 status check.

Courtroom actors in the case remain Judge Matt Shirtcliff presiding, William Thomson representing the defense, and Baker County District Attorney Greg Baxter leading the prosecution. News reports in mid-2025 listed Croucher as 33; the court record as of Feb. 13, 2026 lists her as now 34. The grand jury indictment lists five charges including second-degree manslaughter; court papers provided to date do not enumerate the remaining counts or set out medical findings on the newborn’s death.