Mother charged after bystander finds her premature baby along road in SE Houston: Court records
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A mother has been charged after she was accused of abandoning her premature newborn in June.
Milagros Guadalupe Hernandez, 28, is charged with abandoning or endangering a child, elderly individual or disabled individual.
According to court records, someone flagged down police about a newborn being found and directed them toward a Jack in the Box on June 25.
When officers went inside the restaurant at 8000 Howard Dr., they saw the child, believed to be between 30-34 weeks old.
Police spoke with a witness, who told officers he was walking down the road when he heard a baby crying.
The witness told police the crying startled him, and that's when he discovered the child. He then picked up the baby and went to the Jack in the Box for help, officials said.
Court documents show police checked the restaurant's security footage, confirming the witness was seen running through the parking lot, holding the child. The baby is wrapped in a jacket, and officers are seen in the video entering the Jack in the Box after being alerted about the incident.
Police found the mother, Hernandez, covered in blood about a 1/2 mile away from where the baby was discovered in the 8300 block of Winkler Drive, near a clothing bin, records show.
She allegedly told officers she had just had a baby.
The child was taken to Texas Children's Hospital Medical Center. His or her condition wasn't immediately known.
Just this week alone, ABC13 has learned of two more children being abandoned.
Video only on ABC13 shows the moments first responders pulled a newborn boy from a dumpster behind an apartment complex on Dashwood Drive Sunday afternoon in southwest Houston.
The apartment manager said a taco truck employee gave birth inside a nearby food truck and dumped the baby in the dumpster before coming back to clean up the mobile restaurant.
Police said someone walking by heard the baby crying and called for help.
EMS found the baby inside a bag inside the dumpster, but he was alive and alert.
In another incident, a father went before a judge Tuesday, saying that he became overcome with mental anxiety and no longer could or wanted to care for his baby daughter, according to court documents.
Records show Anferne Gray said he was going to turn the child into a fire station, but didn't do so.
Instead, the girl was left outside of a motel pool, unattended for 15 minutes. He then walked to a nearby restaurant, where he left her in a dumpster for three to four hours.
The child is expected to survive.
Gray faces multiple charges, including child abandonment.
As a reminder, the Safe Haven, or Baby Moses, Law allows parents to give up their newborns without facing criminal charges.
The child has be to under 60 days old, and must be left with personnel at a hospital, clinic or fire station.
Texas was the first state in the country to enact this law.
