A teen mother from New Mexico was caught on video throwing her newborn into a dumpster, only for the child to be found alive hours alter by three people sitting through the trash, according to a report. Alexis Avila, 18, was arrested and charged with attempted murder and child abuse for throwing her infant son to die in a dumpster.
However, she was released from jail after posting $10,000 unsecured bond less than two hours after her arrest. Avila told police that she did not know she was pregnant until the day before she delivered her baby in a bathroom.
Throwing Away Her Own Baby
Avila was caught on camera arriving in a car at the dumpster on North Thorp Street in Hobbs about 2 pm on Friday. She then pulls out a black trash bag out of the car and tosses it into the container. Avila is then seen leaving the place.
Six hours later, three people combing through the dumpster came across a black trash bag only to find the newborn clinging to his life in 30-degree weather. The woman then quickly wrapped up the newborn and took the baby to a truck as a man apparently calls called the authorities, the according to the New York Post.
The man who first spotted the child told police that he, his girlfriend and another friend were searching the dumpster when they thought they heard the cry of a baby coming from one of the bags, according to the criminal complaint.
He then found the baby with the umbilical cord still attached, and identified the infant as a boy wrapped in a black trash bag and immediately called the police for help.
August Fons, the acting chief of Hobbs police department, said he had never before come across a case like this. "If you are struggling with a new infant, the best response is to find somebody who can help you with that," he said.
Fons said the decision by the man to inform police was "absolutely pivotal" in saving the baby boy's life.
The baby, according to reports, is in stable condition now. "Upon arrival officers rendered aid to the newborn child and the baby was transported to a local hospital by Hobbs EMS. The child was subsequently transported to a Lubbock Hospital for further pediatric treatment," police said in a statement.
Mother Confesses
The three dumpster divers were later named by police as Michael Green, Hector Jesso and April Meadow who rescued the infant after hearing his cries.
Police located Avila after retrieving the surveillance footage and reached her home. When officers reached her home, they were greeted by her parents who had no knowledge that their daughter had just delivered a baby just hours back.
They told officers that Avila was sleeping and that she had been sick with stomach pains for the past week, keeping her home from work and school. Unable to talk to her, cops seized Avila's vehicle and told her parents that she should meet with officers at the station.
The next day Avila was arrested after she confessed to throwing away her child. The 18-year-old mother told police she did not know she was pregnant until she went to a doctor for a stomach pain on Thursday.
On Friday, she delivered the baby in a bathroom at her parents' home. Avila said that she had broken up with her son's alleged father back in August 2021.
She also confessed that she threw her newborn son because she "panicked". She wrapped her son in a towel, placed him in a white plastic bag containing some trash, and a larger black trash bag, and drove around, before throwing the child in the dumpster at the Broadmoor Shopping Center at around 2pm.
The baby is in stable condition but doctors initially struggled to keep him breathing. When doctors assessed the baby, they found that his body temperate was so low that it did not register, indicating hypothermia.
The newborn has since been given a blood transfusion, and put on a feeding tube and oxygen.
Avila's mother, Martha Avila, told investigators she was not aware of her daughter's pregnancy. Alivia is out on bail but could face up to 15 years in prison, depending on what charges are ultimately filed.
