According to the sheriff’s office, a dead newborn boy was found in the trash on Fountain Crest Drive in northwest Harris County
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) – Residents of a neighborhood in northwest Harris County are shocked after a newborn boy was found dead in the back of a garbage truck.
The discovery was made around 9:30 a.m. Wednesday in the 13200 block of Fountaincrest Court in the Chimney Hill neighborhood.
According to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, the baby was between one and 30 days old.
“They had gotten to the point where they had started repacking the garbage,” Sergeant Sidney Miller said of the garbage men who found the baby’s body. “That’s when they discovered the baby at the bottom of the garbage can.”
Cheryl Boen lives nearby and said she was watching ABC13 when she realized the footage had been taken outside her home.
“It came on the screen and my jaw dropped,” Boen said. “I came over to see what was going on.”
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Miller confirmed that the sheriff’s office has an extensive investigation ahead of it. He said they are talking to people in hundreds of homes in the area.
Miller said the neighborhood consists of 400 to 500 residential homes.
He added that they will also examine the rest of the truck’s contents to see if any trash could provide further clues.
They also do not rule out the possibility that someone from outside Chimney Hill came into the neighborhood and left only the body behind.
Germany Scott, who has lived in Chimney Hill for six months, said she couldn’t believe what happened.
“I sat there quietly for a minute,” she said.
Scott is pregnant with her third child.
“There are many things you can do if you don’t want a baby,” Scott said. “An innocent baby doesn’t deserve to end up in the trash.”
In Texas, there is the “Baby Moses Law,” which allows parents to legally give up a newborn child they cannot raise.
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According to CPS, five babies have been found abandoned across Houston in the last 11 months, while three were surrendered under the Baby Moses Law.
The baby can be dropped off at any hospital, fire department or ambulance station in the state.
The baby must be no more than 60 days old and unharmed.
The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services states that anyone leaving their baby at one of these locations must tell the staff member that they wish to leave them in a “safe location.”
If you know anything about Wednesday morning’s discovery, you are asked to call the Harris County Sheriff’s Office Homicide Unit at 713-274-9100. You can also leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers of Houston at 713-222-TIPS.
For updates follow Chaz Miller on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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