A baby was discovered alive in a dumpster at an apartment complex in Austin, Texas, on Saturday, according to the Austin Police Department (APD).
The baby girl was found in a dumpster in the 8600 block of North Lamar Boulevard, according to the department’s Watch Command, KVUE reported. The police department was first notified about the child at around 1:35 p.m.
Perry Lewis, a resident of the apartment, said he was getting ready to leave home when his neighbor told him that he heard crying from the dumpster.
“He said it might be a baby,” Lewis said. “So we ran over there, and it took us a couple of seconds.”
Lewis said they ran over to the dumpster, where they saw a baby girl covered in trash and dirt. Lewis said the baby was “covered in blood” and her “umbilical cord [was] still attached.”
Another resident, Lerrssy Frausto, said she grabbed the infant and began chest compressions while they called first responders.
“The way that she was found in the trash can – upside down, with her head facing the trash can – hurt me. Me trying to open up her eye – I couldn’t open up her eye, but it broke me,” Frausto said. “Her other eye just started rolling to the back of her head, and I’m just like, ‘Please stay with me.’”
APD Officer Aaron Townsend said first responders transported the baby girl to Dell Children’s Medical Center. Authorities said the baby girl is doing well but is still in the hospital for evaluation, according to the report. The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) said the little girl is healthy and will likely be discharged soon.
Townsend said detectives are working to track down the mother and whoever else may be responsible for abandoning the child.
Frausto told the outlet her biggest hope is that the baby ends up with “someone that loves her, that truly loves her, truly wants to be a parent to her.”
Frausto named the baby “Miracle Angel.”
“She’s a miracle from God and an angel from the skies,” Frausto said. “She was crying in the trash can. That’s how they heard her cry, so she saved herself before anybody could save her.”
Police said they do not know how long the baby was in the dumpster before she was found.
The investigation was ongoing as of Monday. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call APD’s Child Abuse Unit at 512-974-6880 or submit a tip anonymously to austincrimestoppers.org or by calling 512-472-8477.
Texas has a Safe Haven law that allows for the legal surrender of an unharmed newborn up to 60 days after birth to hospitals, fire stations, EMS providers, and baby boxes, according to the organization Safe Haven Baby Boxes.
Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X @thekat_hamilton.
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