A migrant woman was arrested on Saturday after she was accused of dumping her newborn baby in a hospital trash can.
Lucia Garcia, 21, was arrested and charged with endangering the welfare of a child and reckless endangerment, according to police.
The New York Post reported that Garcia is originally from Mexico, but migrated to the United States roughly 10 months ago, and is seeking asylum. She currently lives in Staten Island with her father. Her mother still lives in Mexico.
Around 1 p.m. on Saturday, an off-duty New York Police Department officer working a side job at the Staten Island University Hospital spotted Garcia – who was soaked in blood. The NYPD officer notified his department about the blood-soaked woman.
Police officers and a hospital custodian reportedly heard the cries from a baby. They found a newborn baby in a hospital trash can, police say.
Lucia’s father, 41-year-old Ambrosio Garcia, claimed that he brought his daughter to the hospital on Friday night because she wasn’t feeling well. He wasn’t aware that his daughter was pregnant, and that she had been hiding her pregnancy from him.
The teary-eyed father told the New York Post, “She said she had her period when she came out of the bathroom. She had a lot of blood on her.”
“Then police went into the bathroom, and another man to clean it,” he continued. “There was a baby boy in there that they found in the trash can.”
The baby boy was immediately transferred to NYU Langone for medical treatment. The baby is said to be in healthy condition.
The father said police took his daughter into custody after the baby was discovered in the garbage can, and he hadn’t talked to her since.
“I feel so bad. I don’t know if she’s okay. I’m sad because I don’t know what I’m going to do,” he said. “I don’t have money for a lawyer — I don’t make that much. I’m very sad. I feel bad too. I never thought this would’ve happened.”
Police say the migrant woman was 32 weeks pregnant.
Another mother purportedly threw her baby in a hospital trash can moments after she gave birth, and was charged with first-degree murder in New Mexico last week after the newborn was found dead. Police released bodycam video of an officer confronting the teen as well as her mother about the newborn baby being dumped in the trash.
* Article From: The Blaze
