Detectives said on Saturday they do not consider the mother of a newborn boy found this week in a trash can a suspect in the death until an autopsy can confirm how the baby died.
The discovery was made Thursday when Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a call at a hospital to investigate the potential death of a newborn, officials said in a press release.
Detectives learned about the death when hospital staff told them a 20-year-old woman had just given birth and had gone there in need of emergency medical attention.
The woman admitted to hospital staff that she had recently given birth to a baby, but told them that she had taken the baby to another hospital and left him there, officials said.
Hospital officials tried to verify her statements by calling other nearby hospitals, but were told there was no record of a baby being voluntarily surrendered.
So medical personnel called sheriff's deputies who were led to the 2600 block of Chico Avenue in South El Monte.
Once there, officials found the lifeless body of a newborn baby inside a trash container, nearby the mother's residence.
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The woman also has a 2-year-old daughter who has been taken into protective custody.
The woman remains hospitalized receiving medical treatment.
Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500. If you prefer to provide information anonymously, you may call "Crime Stoppers" by dialing (800) 222-TIPS (8477), or texting the letters TIPLA plus your tip to CRIMES (274637), or by using the website http://lacrimestoppers.org
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