A woman in the United States who was wrongfully jailed over a miscarriage in 2018 has now been awarded $1.6 million (around Rs 15.41 crore) by local authorities, ending an eight-year legal battle, The Nevada Independent reported. She is finally reunited with the ashes of the baby she miscarried.

The woman named Patience Rousseau was labelled a “baby killer” and faced criminal charges after losing her pregnancy in rural Humboldt County, Nevada. At that time, her pregnancy was probed by local officials; they scrutinised her personal choices and ultimately charged her with ‘felony manslaughter’.

According to the media outlet, she was convicted under a Nevada law, dating 1911, that makes it illegal to take drugs to end a pregnancy after the 24th week. She was sent to jail despite medical examiners being unable to determine the exact cause of the baby’s death.

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Multiple media reports suggest that her lawyer failed to provide an effective defence, leading her to plead guilty. She went on to spend more than two years behind bars. She was separated from her family and faced public harassment.

Her conviction was later overturned due to ineffective assistance of counsel. The prosecutors officially dismissed all charges, clearing her name entirely.

“They fought so much to avoid paying me,” Rousseau said as quoted by the media outlet, adding that the money is welcome but not enough to make up for years of trauma. “I went through so much and so did my children, who are still facing these issues. It’s not fair.”

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Nearly a decade later, Rousseau, who currently lives in South Dakota with three sons, aged 4, 7 and 9, has now received a $1.6 million settlement from Humboldt County.

As part of the settlement with Humboldt County, authorities returned the cremated remains of her child, Abel. Following her arrest, the ashes had remained in the possession of a local sheriff’s deputy involved in the case for eight years.

“The trauma of all of it was pretty horrendous,” Paola Armeni, who is the Las Vegas-based civil rights attorney representing Rousseau, said as quoted.

Her case became popular when The Washington Post did a feature story on it in 2024, publishing all the details of her story and the miscarriage.