A newborn boy was killed and dumped in the trash by a Texas woman who claimed that she "strangled the baby and watched him die," according to an arrest affidavit released by San Antonio police on Wednesday.
Stuffed in a duffel bag and placed on the intake conveyor belt of a Waste Management recycling center in San Antonio, the body of a less than a week-old infant was found two days before Christmas, Reuters reported.
Nidia Alvarado was arrested on suspicion of killing her newborn son and taken into custody on Tuesday night at her home. The 25-year-old was charged with capital murder, which carries the possibility of the death penalty, police said.
"It's believed that the suspect gave birth to that baby boy, and shortly thereafter murdered him by strangulation," police Sergeant Javier Salazar told reporters.
According to Reuters, no attorney has been listed for the suspect and a $2 million bond has been set in place, officials said.
Several weeks before the birth, Alvarado said that she had tried to find somebody who would teach her how to perform a self-induced abortion, the arrest affidavit said. The baby's body was thrown into a dumpster at her apartment building after she had killed the baby, Alvarado told detectives.
Salazar said it was thought that Alvarado had given birth in hospital, under an assumed name. "Tips from the public" helped lead police to the suspect, he added.
Records of locations where trucks had picked up the load of recyclables in which the body was found was provided to the police by a Waste Management company, a spokeswoman said.
"There were other children involved in the case that resided in the same place where the suspect resides," Salazar said.
While police try to find out if Alvarado is the mother, the children have been handed over to Child Protective Services, Reuters reported. Under Texas law, a child under 60 days can be left in the care of an official employee at designated safe places, such as hospitals, fire houses or police stations.
Prosecution for neglect or abandonment under the "Baby Moses Law," named for the biblical figure, will not be carried out for any person who drops off an unharmed infant. According to Reuters, the law is aimed at providing desperate parents with a responsible alternative and protects them from criminal prosecution.
