Ava Marie Guerra, 28, told officers she had no intention of keeping custody of the baby, according to arrest warrant.
SAN ANTONIO — A San Antonio police officer made a shocking discovery after a man flagged him down while he was working off-duty at a Whataburger restaurant downtown.
According to an arrest warrant, the man claimed he was lost and couldn’t find a hospital and in the front seat, the man had a newborn baby.
The incident happened in the early morning hours of January 21.
The baby boy, who we only know as John Doe, was wrapped in a towel and placed in a basket. Police said the baby was barely breathing, the umbilical cord still attached.
The baby was rushed to the hospital where doctors reported he was in critical condition and suffered life-threatening blood loss. The baby’s blood work tested positive for methamphetamine.
According to police documents, the good Samaritan who flagged down that officer wasn’t telling the whole truth and later told investigators he knew who the mother was and where she gave birth.
The information led detectives to 28-year-old Ava Marie Guerra, who police said had given birth to the boy in a toilet bowl at a friend’s apartment.
After investigating, detectives said Guerra didn’t call for medical help after giving birth despite having a cell phone.
“It’s happening one right after the other,” said Pamela Allen, the founder and CEO of Eagle’s Flight Advocacy & Outreach.
Just last week, Eagle’s Flight Advocacy provided a burial service for another helpless baby who died after her mother gave birth in the bathroom of a fast-food restaurant last month.
Allen has been an advocate for the Baby Moses Law, and hopes to spread the word so we don’t see more tragedies like this one.
“This law is just very simple. If a baby is 60 days or younger and you cannot take care of the baby, you can go to a fire station, to a hospital and you can safely surrender this baby, no questions asked,” said Allen.
“This law is going to save the life of an infant and save the life of the parent as well by them not being incarcerated,” Allen said.
Ava Marie Guerra was arrested Tuesday night, and now faces a charge of Injury to a Child.