The newborn baby, at last check, was in good condition.
During a hearing in family court in downtown Houston, a judge decided Child Protective Services will get custody of the child unless a relative comes forward. Meanwhile, the mother was granted supervised visits.
In court, CPS said the infant's teen mother didn't know she was pregnant and had the baby in the tub at her aunt's home, where she was staying. The teen says she cut the umbilical cord herself but thought her baby was born dead so she allegedly left it in the dumpster.
A worker at the southeast Houston apartment complex discovered the newborn in a plastic bag inside a dumpster yesterday. The baby was alive and crying. The baby was taken to the hospital, where he remains at this hour.
The 16-year-old says she hasn't talked to the baby's father in six months and he's 22 years old. It's not clear whether he even knew she was pregnant.
We don't know if authorities plan to pursue any rape charges against the alleged father. But the Harris County District Attorney's Office has talked about what could be ahead for the teen mom.
"The probable charge for that type of offense is endangering a child, which is a state jail felony. Since the mother is a juvenile, she would most likely get probation, either being supervised and detained by the juvenile probation department or by her parents," an official with the Harris County DA's Office said.
Texas does have a Baby Moses law, which allows a parent to safely leave a baby at a fire station or hospital in the child's first 60 days of life without facing criminal charges.
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