Woman Sentenced for Abandoning Newborn in Texas 24 Years Ago

The mother of a newborn baby who was abandoned in Texas 24 years ago has been sentenced to 20 years behind bars.

Shelby Stotts pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter of her baby girl, nicknamed Angel Baby Doe, Fox4 News reported. DNA technology helped solve the cold case in 2024, enabling detectives to identify Stotts as the biological mother of the baby, who was found dead on the side of a road near Johnson County.

“This child was left nameless, bleeding, exposed to the elements, in short, left to die. But the good people of Johnson County opened their hearts to her, named her, provided her with a burial plot and headstone, gave her a funeral … and 24 years later, a Johnson County jury has given her justice,” Johnson County District Attorney Timothy Good said.

“This was a cold case, but the need for justice does not fade with the passage of time. We will always fight for and seek justice no matter how long it takes,” Good added.

Detectives were also able to identify the baby’s father, although he told investigators he did not know Stotts was pregnant, according to the report. After learning of his baby girl, he named her Taryn Angel Moreno.

The baby girl’s body was discovered in 2001 on the side of the road between Alvarado and Burleson by a resident who was picking up cans, according to the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office. Officials at the time said they believed she was wrapped in a jacket and left to die. 

“A medical examiner determined she had been born alive. The ME ruled that she died of foul play, likely bleeding to death because her umbilical cord was still attached and not clamped,” according to the report. 

Detectives were unable to identify the baby girl or locate her mother for 20 years. A few years before Stotts was arrested, Johnson County detectives sent forensic evidence to a lab near Houston for DNA testing, per the report. 

“We were able to do the genealogy, which took a long time,” said Dr. Kristen Mittelman, Othram’s chief development officer. “It was a difficult case, but we were able to actually provide the identity to law enforcement.”

Scientists built a DNA profile and compared it to a family tree, which led investigators to Scotts, according to the report.

“I couldn’t be more proud to be part of giving this baby her name back and get justice for her,” Dr. Mittelman said.

Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X @thekat_hamilton.