030902 MOM ADMITS NEWBORN SLAY

By LARRY CELONA



March 9, 2002
-- A Brooklyn woman who kept her pregnancy a secret told cops she stabbed her newborn girl to death because she panicked when the baby started to cry, investigators said last night.

Denise Valerio, 22, of Brooklyn was charged with murder after admitting to cops she delivered the baby in her living room Wednesday night, stabbed her 24 times with scissors, stuffed her in a plastic bag and left her in a bedroom closet, police said.

Valerio initially claimed the baby was stillborn but came clean after an autopsy determined she was born alive.