A couple in Texas was arrested after the woman’s newborn daughter died in a motel bathroom and her boyfriend allegedly threw the baby away in a dumpster.
The Fort Worth Police Department confirmed to Us that Avia Cantrell has been charged with one count of capital murder of a person under 10 years of age, and her boyfriend, Camron Baker, was charged with one count of abuse of a corpse.
The couple was arrested after a woman found a dead baby girl inside a bag while dumpster diving outside the Drummers Inn in Fort Worth on Sunday, October 18.
Officers then reported to the scene around 8:30 p.m. and launched an investigation into the matter, according to a police report obtained by WFAA.
“Don’t put it in a trash can,” a motel guest told the TV station after they witnessed police investigating the scene. “Babies don’t go in trash cans at all. You could have given the baby to me. I would have taken the baby and did something like taken it to the hospital or something.”
Law enforcement said the child was likely dead for several days before her body was found, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by KDFW.
As police collected evidence from outside the motel, a breakthrough in the case took place when police received a call from Cantrell’s sister requesting a welfare check on the defendant. The sister said that Cantrell, 23, was pregnant and was due soon.
The sister told police that Cantrell had a history of unattended or undisclosed pregnancy and childbirth and she feared that the baby found in the dumpster belonged to Cantrell, according to law enforcement records viewed by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
After they received the call, officers went to Room 205 where Cantrell, Baker, 26, and three children had been living for more than two years.
Cantrell allegedly admitted to detectives that she gave birth in the bathtub and the baby was full-term. Following the birth, the mother left the baby face down in the water for about 30 minutes. Investigators determined the child had been drowned shortly after birth.
Cantrell said she called Baker while he was at work to tell him that she had given birth, but the baby was dead by the time he got to the motel.
Police wrote in the affidavit that the child was kept in a bag for four days near the bathroom toilet as the couple decided what to do with the body.
Baker also spoke to police and said they never called for medical help following the baby’s death because they didn’t want to “catch a case.” He then told police that he placed the baby in a brown, flowered bag and threw it into the dumpster.
It is not currently clear if Cantrell or Baker have entered pleas or retained legal counsel following their arrests. The Fort Worth Police Department had no additional updates to share when contacted by Us about the case.
