An 18-year-old mother in Texas has been arrested after she allegedly threw her newborn baby into a trash bag and tossed it in a dumpster, telling police she believed she had to do it or else her boyfriend would break up with her.
Everilda Cux-Ajtzalam was taken into custody on Thursday and charged with one count of felony abandoning a child without the intent to return, according to court records reviewed by Law&Crime.
According to a criminal complaint filed in the District Court for Harris County, Cux-Ajtzalam, on July 21, 2024, is accused of giving birth “on the ground behind the food truck where she works” and then taking the baby—referred to in documents as “John Doe” or “CW”—and placing him in “a tied garbage bag” and leaving him in a dumpster in the 6000 block of Dashwood Drive in Houston, Texas.
“(Defendant) put the child, placenta, & umbilical cord into a trash bag, took the trash bag to a dumpster, & left the child in the dumpster tied inside the trash bag,” a magistrate judge wrote in a bond order that included a brief narrative of what transpired.
Later, an individual walking past the dumpster heard the newborn crying and called 911. Officers with the Houston Police Department and emergency medical personnel responded to the area and were able to recover the child from inside the dumpster.
Medics with the Houston Fire Department transported the victim to Texas Children’s Hospital for treatment. Authorities said the child was stable and in good condition. After being treated, he was placed into the custody of Child Protective Services.
Police quickly connected the newborn to the food truck and tracked down Cux-Ajtzalam. In an interview with detectives, Cux-Ajtzalam allegedly said that “she had no choice” but to put the baby in the dumpster because “she didn’t want her boyfriend to break up with her,” the bond order stated, adding that the incident was captured on surveillance camera footage.
