A New Mexico woman is accused of giving birth in a portable toilet and disposing of her baby girl in the holding tank, resulting in the newborn’s death.
Sonia Cristal Jimenez, 38, of Las Cruces, is charged with one first-degree felony count of intentional child abuse resulting in death, KFOX14 reported Wednesday.
Staff at Memorial Medical Center called police on the evening of February 7 to report that Jimenez arrived at the hospital and appeared to have just given birth, but she did not have a baby with her.
Jimenez’s boyfriend said the pair had previously been at Burn Lake and that she had used a portable toilet, according to police.
Las Cruces police officers went to Burn Lake, where they ultimately found the deceased newborn in the holding tank of the portable toilet, according to the report. Las Cruces firefighters recovered the baby girl’s body from the holding tank.
“Investigators believe Jimenez gave birth to a live baby, cut the umbilical cord and placed the child in the holding tank, where she drowned,” according to the report.
The New Mexico medical investigator’s office in Albuquerque conducted an autopsy on Monday and concluded that the child was alive when she was dropped into the portable toilet, the report states, citing officials.
The autopsy further revealed that the baby had breathed in and swallowed the blue chemical liquid used for the restroom’s sanitation. The liquid was found in her trachea, lungs, and stomach, indicating she breathed it in and swallowed it while she was still alive, according to the report.
Investigators said they believe Jimenez’s boyfriend did not know she had given birth, and no charges against him are expected, per the report.
Police obtained a warrant for Jimenez and arrested her on Wednesday morning. She was booked into the Doña Ana County Detention Center and was being held without bond, according to the report.
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