14 DAY TRIAL // A newborn baby was miraculously saved after being found in a dumpster in southeast Houston, Texas, on Tuesday morning. A maintenance worker found the infant alive at around 8AM at an apartment complex on Windmill Lakes Street.
51-year-old Carlos Michel was throwing trash into an overloaded container when he heard something unusual. It sounded like a cat mewing or an animal in pain. As the sound got louder, the man decided to see what it was, so he untied the plastic trash bag and found the newborn boy.
Michel said that he initially thought it was a kitten or a puppy what was moving and making those noises inside the bag. However, when he ripped it open, inside it he discovered the little baby boy, naked and with his umbilical cord still attached, as reported by Daily News.
The baby, weighing 7-8 pounds (3.5 kg), had been put there along with scraps, food leftovers and discarded school work. His body was cold and purple and he was having a hard time breathing.
While waiting for the police and the paramedics to come, Michel and a co-worker took the baby to a nearby car to keep it warm.
“He didn’t have anything on him, I wrapped him up, we called 911, but in the meantime, before they got here, we put him in the car with the heat on to comfort him and he started to recuperate and started regaining color,” Michel said.
Michel undoubtedly saved the newborn's life, as the infant is now in good condition at Memorial Hermann Hospital, according to a Houston police spokesperson. Child Protective Services will take custody of the baby.
Officers already located the baby's mother. A 16-year-old girl confessed to putting the baby in the container just a few hours after he was born. She is now receiving medical treatment at a local hospital.
Houston Police Department says the young girl is a student at South Houston High School and she may live at the Windmill Lakes Apartments, where the infant was found. Once doctors clear her, the teenager will be interviewed by police officers, who will then decide what charges could be filed against her.
Although abandoning your own child might seem an act of cruelty, Texas has a special law designed to help new parents who can't take care of their children. The Baby Moses law states that a parent can leave a baby up to 60-days-old at a fire station, an ambulance station or a hospital without fear of prosecution. However, the baby must be handed over to a person.