Dumpster divers hailed as heroes after rescuing a newborn baby thrown in the trash by a teenage mother
- Dumpster divers in Hobbs, New Mexico found an abandoned newborn baby in a trash bag.
- Surveillance footage captured Alexis Avila, 18, hurling her newborn baby into a dumpster.
Three dumpster divers have been hailed as heroes after they rescued a newborn baby abandoned in a dumpster in Hobbs, New Mexico.
The case has gripped the state, with many in the community calling for harsh punishment of the teenage mother who abandoned him.
Surveillance footage appears to show Alexis Avila, 18, hurling a trash bag containing the newborn baby into a dumpster last Friday.
On Wednesday, Avila was charged with attempted murder and felony child abuse and has pleaded not guilty.
Meadow told DailyMail.com that they heard whimpering coming from a bag in the dumpster, which they initially thought was an animal.
"The bag was done up," Meadow told DailyMail.com. "Michael grabbed the bag because he heard that cry – he set it down on the ground, and we thought there's a dog in there or a kitten."
The trio told the outlet that they were shocked to find a baby inside when they opened the bag.
"I said it's a fucking baby," Meadow told the outlet. "I turned around and said, 'oh my gosh, get him out of the trash.'"
Meadow told the outlet that the baby's arms were "ice cold," and that she took him into their car and held and kissed him while they called emergency services.
"I thought, 'that baby ain't going to stay in a fucking trash sack, it's going with me'. That blood, that lady's blood – I didn't care, I just wanted to hold the baby," she told the DailyMail.com.
"'How can you throw a baby away like trash? Take him to a hospital, take him somewhere if you don't want him," she told the outlet.
Acting Hobbs Police Chief August Fons said in a press conference on Monday that the baby, covered in dried blood and had the umbilical cord still attached, was rushed to a local hospital and then airlifted Lubbock Hospital in Texas.
Authorities said that the baby was now in a stable condition and in the care of the New Mexico Department of Children, Youth and Families.
Teenager mother said she "panicked" after giving birth
Alexis Avila told officers that she did not know she was pregnant until the day before the baby was born, and "panicked" after giving birth in a bathroom at her parents' house, Chief Fons said in the press conference.
However, some of Avila's school friends cast doubt on her claim that she didn't know she was pregnant, telling DailyMail.com that she was "open about her pregnancy at school" before she stopped coming to school in December.
In a hearing on Wednesday, Avila was released from jail, but was told she must remain under house arrest until her trial, the DailyMail.com reported.
The teenager is permitted to leave the house for certain activities, including school or counseling appointments. She is banned from having any contact with the baby.
The outlet reported that Avila appeared impassive through most of the hearing but "wiped away a tear" as the court heard that the baby needed a blood transfusion after lying for hours in the dumpster.
Police would not disclose the baby's father's identity as he is still a minor, but a man claiming to be the baby's paternal grandfather spoke to DailyMail.com and said the family plan to seek custody of the baby.
A friend of the baby's father told the outlet that he was unaware of the baby's birth, as Avila had falsely told him she had miscarried when they broke up in August.
New Mexico gripped by the case of the dumpster baby
On Wednesday, protesters gathered outside the courthouse to heckle Avila's family and criticize the decision to allow Avila to go home after spending less than an hour in jail.
Several Facebook groups have sprung up to call for "justice" for the baby and discuss developments in the case, amassing thousands of followers.
Activists have also started GoFundMe pages for the three dumpster divers who discovered the baby.
One video posted to a Facebook group shows activists visiting the dumpster divers, who they called "angels," and presenting them with flowers and donated cash.
Avila's mother, Martha, defended her daughter and told DailyMail.com that she did not know that she was pregnant.
"People can talk and give their opinion. Everybody makes mistakes. People can preach all they want, they can judge all they want but we only care about the judgment of one," she told the outlet.