Houston Woman Who Abandoned Newborn Baby in Dumpster After Birth Because She Didn’t Want Boyfriend to Break Up with Her, Sentenced

A woman pleaded guilty to a felony charge of child abandonment Monday, more than a year after she placed her newborn baby in the trash outside a Houston taco truck.

As reported by the Houston Chronicle, Everilda Cux-Ajtzalam, 19, was sentenced to up to seven years in prison, according to the terms of the plea deal. She received credit for about a year already spent in jail. Cux-Ajtzalam had been in custody at the Harris County Jail since her arrest last July.

Cuz-Ajtzalam Told Investigators She Put the Baby in the Dumpster Because ‘She Didn’t Want Her Boyfriend to Break Up with Her’

According to authorities, Cux-Ajtzalam gave birth to the baby, who they called Gabriel, on July 21 behind a taco truck she was working in, alone, in southwest Houston.

Security cameras recorded the young woman giving birth, and then almost immediately placing him in a trash bag, then a trash can and a dumpster.

Soon after, a passerby from the apartment complex passed the dumpster and heard the baby crying in the trash. As the stranger called 911, Cux-Ajtzalam was seen walking away.

Firefighters responded and rescued the baby from the dumpster.

Cux-Ajtzalam was identified and arrested days later. In an interview with detectives, Cux-Ajtzalam allegedly said that she “had no choice” but to put the baby in the dumpster because “she didn’t want her boyfriend to break up with her.”

The Infant is ‘Healthy, Thriving and Living with His Foster Parents’

On Monday, Cux-Ajtzalam pleaded guilty inside a mostly empty courtroom, during a break in the proceedings of an unrelated criminal trial. Speaking to a judge through a Kʼicheʼ translator, Cux-Ajtzalam confirmed that she understood the terms of the plea bargain and was admitting guilt. K’iche’ is a Mayan language spoken in Mexico and Guatemala.

“Yes, it came from my heart,” Cux-Ajtzalam said.

Prosecutors said little during the hearing. “Today, baby Gabriel is healthy, thriving and living with his foster parents,” a spokesperson said. “We are grateful to the person who happened to hear his cries from the dumpster, called police and ultimately saved Gabriel’s life.”

Cux-Ajtzalam is expected to be deported after her prison sentence.