The father of the baby that was thrown by its mother into a dumpster located behind Rig Outfitters and Home Store in Hobbs on January 7 is now coming forward with what he knows. 

According to KRQE News 13, Stephen Astorga, age 16, is the baby’s father. Stephen told KQRE News that he had been told by the baby’s mother Alexis Alvia, who is now under house arrest pending trial for attempted first degree murder and child abuse, that she miscarried the baby and was “no longer pregnant.” 

Avalia, however, while being interviewed by Hobbs Police Department investigators, told police that she did not know that she was pregnant until January 6, the day before she delivered the baby, a boy, in the bathroom at her parents’ home. 

Stephen’s family told KRQE News that had they been aware that Alvia was still pregnant, “they could have helped avoid what happened.”

Oscar Astorga, 50, the baby’s grandfather and Stephen’s father, is quoted as saying in a New York Post article that his family is seeking custody of the newborn. “The family has retained a lawyer and is seeking custody of the infant….”

After being treated in Hobbs and subsequently airlifted to a hospital in Lubbock, Texas for additional care, the baby, who is being called Saul, is now at home in Hobbs with the Astorga family. The family told KRQE News that the child is “healthy and happy.”

In an interview with the UK’s Daily Mail Astorga said, “‘Of course we’re trying to get custody. Of course. He is my grandson. That’s why we can’t comment on anything because we’re trying to get my grandson.'”

Astorga, principal of Hobbs based Astoco Oil Services, also told the Daily Mail that his family has been receiving death threats via social media ever since the video of Alvia throwing her newborn in a dumpster went viral.

According to an article posted at technotrenz.com, Alexis Avila’s mother, Martha, supporting her daughter, told a reporter from the Daily Mail, “‘People cаn preаch аnd judge аll they wаnt, but we only cаre аbout one’s judgment.’” Martha Avila also “… reiterated her daughter’s clаim to investigаtors thаt she wаs unаwаre of her pregnаncy.”

Hobbs Acting Police Chief August Fons is speaking out for parents in need to seek help. “If you are struggling with a new infant, the best response is to find somebody who can help you with that,” the acting chief is quoted as saying in an article posted at the independent.co.uk. “Contact us, and let us help you through the situation.”