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Last Updated: Sunday, May 17, 2026 at 04:10 PM
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Teen Mom Accused Of Smothering Baby Free On Bail

Mia Sardella's stay in jail is a short one, and she'll be on electronic monitoring at her grandparents' house until her trial.

Mia Sardella's stay in jail was a short one.

Slideshow: 19-Year-Old Mom Charged With Killing Baby

Video: Teen Charged With Smothering Baby

Timeline: Baby Found Dead In Car

A Delaware County judge granted the 19-year-old mother accused of killing her infant son, to be set free on $250,000 cash bail and electronic monitoring at her grandparents' Drexel Hill home. Sardella turned herself in to Upper Darby police Tuesday and appeared in court again Wednesday morning, this time via a video link.

She cried when she heard she would be going home until her trial.

Sardella faces 11 felony counts including first-degree murder.

Her mother -- who authorities said found the baby's corpse after almost three weeks stuffed in a tote bag in the trunk of a Volkswagen Beetle -- left the Media courthouse declining to speak with reporters.

Prosecutors and Sardella's defense attorney also declined to speak, citing a gag order in the case.

Investigators claim Sardella suffocated her newborn minutes after giving birth to the baby boy in a basement bathroom inside her mother's home on New Year's Day. It was a pregnancy that police said was concealed from friends and family.

The investigation took four months. Upper Darby police hinted Sardella's case may have been given special treament because her grandfather is wealthy financier Albert Piscopo.

Judge Patricia Jenkins cited the family's deep pockets as the reason behind the high bail amount.

NBC 10's Jamison Uhler reported that Piscopo had $50,000 cash on him to post immediately, and was overheard by a reporter in the courtroom jokingly telling his wife, Joan, that she may have sell some of her jewelry to get their granddaughter out of prison.

When asked if that were true, Joan Piscopo replied, "I've got tons of jewelry."

Jenkins said bail has been granted before in first-degree murder cases where infant death was the end result.

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