The 33-year-old mother of a newborn baby found abandoned and buried alive under rubble near a Compton riverbed was sentenced to 14 years in a state prison Wednesday, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.
Porche Laronda Washington pleaded no contest to an attempted murder charge and admitted to committing great bodily injury to a child, officials said.
Two women were walking along a bike path near 136th Street and Slater Avenue on Nov. 27 when they heard faint cries.
"She said, 'I hear a baby crying,'" Angelica Blount said of her sister Evangelina McCrary. "I saw the baby, but not 100 percent of the baby's face."
Deputies began scouring the area and heard a "muffled cry." They discovered the baby girl a foot down in a hole under rubble and asphalt, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said.
The baby was cold to the touch, deputies said.
Special victims detectives learned Washington was admitted into a hospital on Nov. 23. Three days later, she and the baby were released from care, and the following day the baby was found buried alive, sheriff's officials said.
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Tips from the public led to finding Washington and identifying her as the mother. She was arrested on Dec. 3.
The child was less than 72 hours old, which was within the time frame for the Safe Surrender Law.
"They could have done the right thing, and instead they came and dumped it here," said Angel Flores, a nearby resident. "I don't know the situation they have or what's going on, but this is not right. This is not human."
Information on the Safe Surrender law can be found at the following sites:
Safe Surrender in Los Angeles at BabySafeLA.org
Safe Surrender in the state of California at BabySafe.CA.gov
