Newborn baby found dead in west Fort Worth front yard; police trying to identify mother
A newborn baby was found dead in the front yard of a residence in the 5100 block of Birchman Avenue on Tuesday morning, Fort Worth police said.
Police believe the child was placed outside a house between 10 p.m. Monday and 6:40 a.m. Tuesday. The cause of the baby’s death is under investigation, and the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office will perform an autopsy.
The little girl appeared to be wrapped in some sort of plastic, and investigators believe she was born only a few hours before she was found. Police said the child was not born in a hospital.
Investigators are looking for video surveillance footage and asking any witnesses or anyone who has information about the child’s mother or family to come forward. Police said that they want to confirm that the mother doesn’t need medical assistance. Investigators haven’t eliminated the possibility that the baby could have been taken from the mother in some sort of illegal and dangerous surgery.
Birchman Avenue is in west Fort Worth, north of Interstate 30 and south of Camp Bowie Boulevard in the Arlington Heights neighborhood. Police are trying to determine how the baby got there and who left it in the yard.
One resident of the street described it as a “good, clean, safe neighborhood.”
“It just makes me sad, and I hope they’re able to find out who did this and what exactly happened,” Brett Schroeder told WFAA-TV.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Fort Worth police investigators at 682-382-1510 or 682-382-1524.
What is the ‘Baby Moses’ law in Texas?
All 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico have Safe Haven or Baby Moses laws. Beginning in Texas in 1999, the law was created as an incentive for parents in crisis to safely surrender their babies into the hands of staff members at locations — such as a fire station or hospital — that could care for the infant until a new home can be found. How old a baby has to be to qualify under this no-questions-asked program depends on the state or territory. In Texas, an infant has to be no older than 60 days.
“Of the over 100 babies who are abandoned each year in Texas, about 16 will be found dead. An unknown number of murdered babies are never found,” states a section of the Weatherford City website. “The Baby Moses Law is a solution to the tragedy by providing a responsible alternative to mothers who might otherwise abandon, harm, or murder a newborn child.”
Staff writer James Hartley contributed to this report.
This story was originally published June 7, 2023 at 12:42 PM.
