Mom left newborn in toilet for 7 hours before putting him in trash can, NC police say
A North Carolina mom is accused of leaving her newborn in the toilet for hours before putting him in the trash can where police say he was found last week.
A woman walking her dog July 16 said she heard the baby’s cries coming from a trash can near the Christ Community Church in Wilmington and discovered the boy inside, McClatchy News previously reported. He was reportedly inside a tied black trash bag, and his umbilical cord was still attached and wrapped around his neck.
The baby was taken to a hospital where officials said last week he was doing well.
The woman police say is the baby’s mother, 21-year-old Maryuri Estefany Calix-Macedo, was later arrested and charged with first-degree attempted murder.
Calix-Macedo told officers she gave birth to the baby in her toilet then left him there for seven hours, according to search warrants from Wilmington police, WECT reports.
Warrants say she left the newborn in the toilet while she fed her 18-month-old daughter and took a shower in the same bathroom, WECT reports. She reportedly told officers she knew her son was still alive because she could hear him crying from the toilet.
She later tied the baby inside a black trash bag, put him in the trunk of her car then drove to Walmart to buy milk with her daughter, the warrants say, according to WWAY.
When she left Walmart, warrants say she drove to Christ Community Church, put him in the trash can where he was later found and drove home, WWAY reports.
The baby was reportedly in the trash can for about an hour before he was found, WECT reports.
Calix-Macedo was taken to New Hanover Regional Medical Center “for assessment” after her arrest and is now being held at the county jail under an $800,000 bond.
Parents can surrender a baby who is up to seven days old under North Carolina’s Safe Surrender Law. The child must be given to a “responsible adult,” such as a health care worker, police officer, first responder or social worker, according to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.
