San Juan, Aug 14 (IANS/EFE): A San Juan court Tuesday sentenced a woman to 99 years behind bars for the death of her five-month-old baby and for hiding his body in a freezer.

Judge Harry Massanet Pastrana handed down his decision after Xiomara Rodriguez Flores, 26, pleaded guilty to one charge of murder and two others of mistreatment of a minor.

According to the investigation, the baby suffocated on his own vomit after the mother placed him face down on a pillow and went to bed after being bothered by the child's crying.

The woman's former boyfriend, Jose Miranda Lopez, also pleaded guilty to a charge of destroying evidence for placing the child in a freezer in the home they shared and to two charges of mistreatment of a minor.

However, the sentencing of Miranda Lopez, 43, was postponed until Oct 1.

The couple, according to the charges, decided to put the baby in a bag in the freezer until they decided what to do with the body.

Puerto Rico Police Chief Hector Pesquera said that two days after the child's death the family organized a barbecue at the home to which they invited friends and neighbors.

During the celebration, the couple, in a completely normal manner, went to the freezer where they had stashed the baby's body to remove ice and food.

The macabre deed was discovered after a strange phone call the child's mother made to a neighbour saying that her boyfriend was holding her prisoner in the house where they lived.

When police came to the home they found the body of the baby in the freezer inside a plastic bag and with his hands tied.