HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — Two newborn babies were found dead in Harris County in the last week. In the last six months, at least five other infants have been abandoned across the Houston area.
The disturbing trend prompted law enforcement to urge parents to follow the state's Safe Haven or Baby Moses law.
"There apparently has been a little bit of an epidemic so I'd like to mention the Baby Moses law," John Nanny Harris with HCSO said after a newborn's body was found in a ditch on Tuesday.
The Texas law allows parents of newborns to drop babies off at a safe place like a hospital or fire station without facing legal action.
Advocates say educating people about the law is key in the fight against child abandonment.
“What we need to continue to do in Texas, allow anonymity, and get education in the schools, the crisis pregnancy centers, juvenile [detention], places where kids are not walking the straight and narrow but need guidance,” said Monica Kelsey with Safe Haven Baby Boxes.
It's too soon to know what the circumstances were in the latest case or whether the Baby Moses Law might have made a difference. But we found several other cases of Houston-area babies being abandoned or dumped in the last six months, including some who likely would have benefited if the law had been followed.
AUGUST 20
The most recent case happened on Tuesday when an infant was found dead outside a concrete industrial plant in north Harris County, according to Sheriff Ed Gonzalez.
A lawn crew found the newborn partially clothed, lying face down on a blanket in a ditch on Henry Road near the Hardy Toll Road.
Deputies said it was hard to tell how long the baby had been there before being found. An autopsy will be done to determine the cause of death.
AUGUST 14
A week earlier, on August 14, the body of a baby boy was found in the back of a garbage truck in northwest Harris County.
A waste crew found the infant in a neighborhood off North Eldridge Parkway near Spencer Road.
HCSO investigators later located the newborn's mother. She told them that sometime on Sunday morning, she was suffering from severe abdominal pains and ended up giving birth to the infant before passing out. The woman said she discovered the baby was dead when she woke up.
JULY 22
On July 22, another baby was found abandoned near a dumpster, but thankfully she survived.
Her father was later arrested on two charges, family violence and abandoning a child.
Prosecutors said Anferne Gray, 28, assaulted the baby's mother before leaving the baby near a motel pool and then by a restaurant dumpster in Pasadena. She was there for a few hours before someone found her and called 911.
Gray allegedly told someone he no longer wanted to care for the child.
JULY 20
On July 20, someone heard a baby crying and found it inside a plastic bag near a dumpster along Dashwood Drive in southwest Houston. The baby boy was just a few hours old.
Eighteen-year-old Everilda Cux-Ajtzalam was later arrested and charged with abandoning a child. During a court appearance, the teen said she did it because she didn't want her boyfriend to break up with her.
"It was pure luck that the child was found and received care," the magistrate judge said during the appearance.
RELATED: 18-year-old woman accused of abandoning newborn baby boy near dumpster in southwest Houston
JUNE 25
Good Samaritans also rescued another baby abandoned at birth in a parking lot near Hobby Airport on June 25.
Witnesses said a woman took off her pants in the parking lot near Winkler Drive and the Gulf Freeway and gave birth in plain sight around 8:30 p.m. She left the baby next to a clothing donation box and walked away.
Yaned Interiano works at a nearby pupuseria and was shocked by what she saw.
"I don't know why she ended up doing that," Interiano told us. "She had the baby and walked away. What she did is not motherly."
Someone flagged down a Houston police officer who found a 28-year-old woman, believed to be the baby's mother, about a block away.
The baby and the unidentified woman were taken to the hospital.
"Thank God people were there to help the baby," Interiano said.
JUNE 15
Ten days earlier, a newborn girl was found abandoned in northwest Harris County by a family out for a morning walk.
The infant was wrapped in a towel with her umbilical cord still attached and left on Casa Martin Drive near Bear Creek.
“I noticed two little feet moving and then my husband was right behind me with the dogs, and I yelled to my husband. I'm like, oh my God, a baby, a baby,” Daniela Fedele told us. “And then my husband like, call 911, call 911 and that's what we did.”
The baby spent several days in a hospital before being placed with foster parents who will provide a "safe and loving home for her," according to the Texas Department of Family Protective Services.
Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said they were looking for a man with a slim build, fair complexion and black hair who was seen holding the infant. He was wearing a black shirt and possibly gray pants. He was on foot along the Plantation Lakes walking trail.
RELATED: Sheriff describes man believed to have left newborn baby along walking trail in NW Harris County
MARCH 21
On March 21, someone found a baby in a car seat who was left outside of a southeast Houston home.
The Houston Fire Department was called to the home on Winthrop Lane near Almeda Genoa.
The baby boy, believed to be between 6 months and a year old, was taken to a hospital to be treated.
More on Safe Haven or Baby Moses law in Texas
If you're thinking about bringing your baby to a designated Safe Haven, here's what you need to know.
- Your baby must be 60 days old or younger and unharmed and safe.
- You may take your baby to any hospital, fire station, or emergency medical services (EMS) station in Texas.
- You need to give your baby to an employee who works at one of these safe places and tell this person that you want to leave your baby at a Safe Haven.
- You may be asked by an employee for family or medical history to make sure that your baby receives the care they need.
- If you leave your baby at a fire or EMS station, your baby may be taken to a hospital to receive any medical attention they need. Remember, If you leave your unharmed infant at a Safe Haven, you will not be prosecuted for abandonment or neglect.
For more information, go to the Baby Moses Project or call the Texas Baby Moses Hotline at 1-877-904-SAVE (1-877-904-7283).
Bajo la ley del Bebé Moises, se les permiten a los padres entregar a sus bebés que tengan sesenta dias de recien nacidos a un hospital, una estación de bomberos, un centro de emergencia independiente, ó a una estación de ambulancias (EMS).