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By Anezka Pichrtova
Live News Reporter
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An 18-year-old woman from Texas appeared in court on Friday accused of placing a newborn baby in a plastic bag and discarding him in a dumpster. She has been charged with abandoning a child, and her bond has been set at $90,000.
A video obtained by local news outlet ABC13 showed the rescue of a baby, now referred to as Gabriel. In the footage, first responders can be seen removing Gabriel from a trash bag and wrapping him in blankets. The baby was responsive and visibly newborn, with wet hair, pink skin, and an umbilical cord still fresh.
He was discovered July 21 when police responded to a 911 call from a passerby who heard a baby cry from a dumpster near an apartment complex in West Houston, Newsweek previously reported.
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The apartment manager told local news media that he believed it was connected to a food truck parked nearby.
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The baby was taken to a hospital and "appeared to be in good health," authorities reported. He is now in the custody of the Child Protective Services.
On Thursday, the police told ABC13 that the teenager charged was one of the taco truck employees, and was in hospital.
Newsweek has contacted Houston Police Department and the Department of Family and Protective Services for comment via email.
Three abandoned babies in one month
Houston has seen another two babies abandoned in recent weeks.
Hours before baby Gabriel was found in a dumpster, another baby was found in a car seat near a dumpster outside a restaurant. The father was charged with assault of a family member and child abandonment. Police allege he called 911 and said he was experiencing a mental health crisis and could not care for the baby anymore.
Last Wednesday, a 28-year-old woman was charged with abandoning or endangering a child. ABC13 reported that police were called to a restaurant where they found an abandoned baby. A woman was found later about half a mile away covered in blood saying she had just given birth.
Under Texas' Safe Haven law, also known as the Baby Moses law, parents who leave a baby in a safe place such as a hospital or fire station will not be prosecuted for abandonment or neglect.
The baby has to be under 60 days old, unharmed, and placed with an employee of these safe places.
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