Woman got pregnant in jail without ever meeting the baby’s father. Now, her murder trial has begun

When a Miami, Florida woman gave birth in June 2024 after becoming pregnant behind bars despite having no direct contact with the baby’s father, she made national headlines. Now, that same woman, Daisy Link, is in the spotlight again as her murder trial began in October 2025.

The 2023 pregnancy

In 2023, Link was held at Miami-Dade’s Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on murder charges related to the 2022 shooting death of her partner, Pedro Jimenez. During that time, she allegedly orchestrated her own impregnation by communicating with another inmate, Joan Depaz, through jail vents and reportedly receiving semen sent via plastic wrap and makeshift “fishing line” contraptions.

Link told authorities she planned to get pregnant because she had been denied bond, and she considered the jail conception a kind of protest or final leverage. Link gave birth in June 2024 to a healthy baby girl fathered by Depaz, despite the two never having physical contact.

The baby now lives with Depaz’s mother, and Miami-Dade Corrections updated its security protocols after an internal review found no staff misconduct.

Jimenez’s death and Link’s charges

As mentioned, police arrested Link in June 2022 on suspicion of second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of Jimenez. Prosecutors allege that Link pulled the trigger and later misled law enforcement, claiming she had merely discovered him wounded.

At the trial’s opening on October 8, 2025, prosecutors portrayed her as someone who acted in “a fit of rage,” citing body-camera footage, audio recordings, and surveillance video that they say contradict her story. Prosecutors told the jury that Link initially denied involvement, later changed her story, and sought to mislead investigators, according to Florida news outlet WPLG.

Link’s defense does not deny that she fired the gun. Instead, they say she acted in self-defense after enduring years of abuse. Her attorney has pointed to prior domestic violence incidents, including a claim that Jimenez pistol-whipped her five days before the shooting.

The defense has also tried to invoke Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” statute, but a judge declined to dismiss the case on that basis before trial.

During opening statements, Link at times covered her ears and concealed her face as jurors watched heavily redacted video evidence. Though Link’s pregnancy received sensational coverage, prosecutors have said those details will not be front and center in the courtroom.