Everilda Cux-Ajtzalam,18, has been charged with child abandonment after allegedly leaving her newborn baby in a Houston dumpster last weekend.
The teenager appeared in court on Friday, with her bond set at $90,000.
The baby boy, now identified as Gabriel, was found on July 21 after a passerby heard cries coming from a dumpster near an apartment complex in West Houston. Local authorities responded promptly, and footage obtained by ABC 13 shows first responders rescuing the baby from a trash bag and wrapping him in blankets.
Gabriel was described as responsive, with visible signs of being very newborn, including a fresh umbilical cord, per Newsweek.
Reportedly, Cux-Ajtzalam gave birth inside a taco truck, where she was employed, disposed of the baby, and returned to the truck to clean the birthing area.
According to authorities, the teenager was receiving medical attention at a hospital when the charges were filed. Investigators are still looking into the circumstances surrounding the case, including the suspect’s mental health status.
This recent case is part of a troubling trend in Houston. In the past month, at least three other babies have been abandoned in Houston, per Newsweek.
Just hours before Gabriel was found, another baby was discovered in a car seat near a dumpster outside a Houston restaurant. The baby’s father has been charged with assault and child abandonment after he reportedly called 911, claiming he was unable to care for the child due to a mental health crisis.
On July 24, a 28-year-old woman was charged with abandoning or endangering a child after police found an abandoned baby at another different Houston restaurant. The woman, who was later discovered covered in blood about half a mile away, claimed she had just given birth.
As previously covered by The Dallas Express, another baby was abandoned on a Houston running path in late June, prompting the Harris County Sherriff’s office to urge those who might abandon their child to consider using resources provided by the “Baby Moses” law.
Under Texas’ Safe Haven law, or the “Baby Moses” law, parents are legally permitted to leave their baby at designated safe locations like hospitals or fire stations without facing prosecution. This law aims to prevent such tragic cases by providing an alternative option to abandoning your child.
“In a situation like this, if you end up having a child and you’re not prepared … there’s a child ‘Moses’ law where you can always go to a fire station, go to a hospital, release and surrender the child to professional services to where the child can be in a better element than out here in this heat,” said Sgt. Juan Garcia of the Harris County Sheriff’s Child Abuse Unit.