Butler County's new district attorney said his recent decision to remove a possible death penalty from a homicide case involving the killing of a newborn is part of an overall review of criminal cases from the prior administration.

"I think it's fair to say that we're rethinking everything," Richard Goldinger said.

His assistant, B.T. Fullerton, told Butler County Judge Timothy McCune at a pretrial conference for 25-year-old Lauren Elizabeth Jones on May 2 that the office no longer was seeking the death penalty.

Mr. Goldinger took office in January, having defeated former District Attorney Randa Clark. Ms. Clark's policy had been to seek the death penalty in any homicide case that presented at least one of the aggravating circumstances that can be invoked for a capital case.

In Ms. Jones' case, the aggravating circumstance was that the victim was younger than 12.

Ms. Jones, 25, of Buffalo, has admitted that she delivered her own child then stabbed the infant girl with a kitchen knife, wrapped her in a garbage bag and put her under a bed. The child suffocated, according to an autopsy report.

She faces a charge of homicide, concealing the death of a child, endangering the welfare of a child and abuse of a corpse.

The case unfolded after Ms. Jones' mother, Debra Troutman, asked a friend on March 6, 2007, to investigate an odor emanating from her daughter's bedroom in the home they shared on Monroe Street in Buffalo. The baby's body was found wrapped in a garbage bag and inside a backpack placed beneath a bed.

Ms. Jones told police she didn't know she was pregnant when she went into labor Feb. 28. She has another young child.

Mr. Goldinger said he hasn't decided whether he will have a policy about homicide cases or any other criminal case. "I don't know how I'll go on this," he said.

In the meantime, he said he is evaluating each carryover criminal case from the previous administration as it turns up on the court calendar.

Two other death penalty cases are pending: Jarred Burton Knight, 24, of Harrisville, is charged with killing the 14-month-old son of his girlfriend on June 24; and James Raymond Borchert, 51, of Cherry Valley, is charged in a double slaying of his estranged wife and her boyfriend on Aug. 14.

No trial dates are set for any of the homicide cases.