Officers of the Hobbs Police Department (HPD) were called to the 1400 block of North Thorp Street around 8:00 pm, on Friday, January 7, after a newborn was found in a dumpster.
“Upon arrival [at the location behind Rig Outfitters and Home Store] officers rendered aid to the newborn child and the baby was transported to a local hospital by Hobbs EMS,” states a January 8, City of Hobbs press release (PDF). Later, the child was transferred to a hospital in Lubbock for “further paediatric treatment”.
The child is alive and was reported to be in stable condition on Sunday, January 9.
Hobbs resident Alexis Avila, age 18, while being interviewed by HPD investigators confessed to giving birth to the child and then leaving the newborn in a dumpster, states the HPD’s Facebook page.
Avila has been charged with attempted murder (Attempt to Commit a Felony To Wit: Murder) and child abuse. Both are first degree felonies.
Arraignment is set for Avila in the Lea County District Court on Monday, January 10.
According to a HPD press release, police officers have retrieved surveillance video and “a suspect vehicle” that are aiding with the investigation.
The surveillance video was provided to police investigators by Joe Imbriale, owner of Rig Outfitters and Home Store in Hobbs. A news report at KOB.com states that police called Imbriale on Friday night and asked “to view his surveillance footage”. Imbraile, of course, asked what the police were looking for, and police told him that they were looking for “somebody that dumped a black garbage bag into your dumpster,” states Imbriale in a video posted at KOB.com.
KOB4 news reporter Giuli Frendak says in a newsclip posted at KOB.com, “The video shows who is believed to be Avila leaving the dumpster at 2, Friday afternoon. Six hours later, you can see three people searching through the same dumpster. They pull out a black bag and start looking through it. Seconds later a woman reacts to what’s inside and starts opening the bag. She pulls out the newborn baby – still alive, and tends to it.”
The report goes on to say, “Once the child is wrapped up, she brings it to their truck while a man in the group is on the phone. They pull the truck away from the dumpster, and you can see police and an ambulance arrive minutes later. Police immediately start looking in the dumpster, and paramedics take the child to a local hospital.”
KOB4 evening anchor and reporter Tessa Mentus calls the three people who found the child “unsuspecting angels”. They were “at the right place at the right time”.
