A Fort Worth mother and her boyfriend face criminal charges after the discovery of her newborn daughter’s body at a west-side motel.
Avia Cantrell, 23, was charged with capital murder of a person under 10. Her boyfriend, Camron Kyjuan Baker, 26, faces a separate charge of abuse of a corpse, Fort Worth Police Department arrest records show.
According to the police affidavit, a homeless woman searching a dumpster discovered the infant inside a bag outside the Drummers Inn on Camp Bowie West Boulevard on October 18, Fox 4 KDFW reported.
Police contacted Cantrell the following day after her sister-in-law requested a welfare check. The relative told officers that Cantrell was pregnant and due soon. Officers found Cantrell in Room 205, where she had lived for two years with Baker and three children, the police affidavit states.
Cantrell told detectives she delivered a full-term baby girl in the bathtub and left her face-down in the water for approximately 30 minutes. She then called Baker at work and told him she had given birth and the baby was gone, according to the affidavit account.
Police allege the couple kept the infant’s body in a bag beside the toilet for four days. Baker told investigators they did not seek medical help because they did not want to “catch a case,” Fox 4 reported.
Baker allegedly placed the body in a brown luggage bag and put it in the dumpster on October 18.
Cantrell’s three other children are now staying with a relative, according to CBS Texas.
