SAN ANTONIO – San Antonio police arrested a woman accused of failing to get medical help for an infant days after the newborn was turned over to police with its umbilical cord still attached, records state.
Ava Marie Guerra, 28, was arrested Monday. She told police she unexpectedly gave birth to the newborn boy in a toilet on Jan. 21, according to an affidavit.
Guerra did not attempt to call 911 or seek medical help for the newborn baby boy, records show.
Guerra told police she knew she was pregnant for about two months and did not see any prenatal care. According to the affidavit, she did not want to keep the baby or know anything about him.
According to police, a man initially said he found the baby near Nolan and Cherry Streets and took him to the 400 block of Commerce Street. First responders took the baby to a hospital in critical condition.
SAPD said the man was not being truthful — and that he confessed he knew where the baby was born and who the mother was.
The newborn is still in critical condition, San Antonio police said Wednesday.
Records show the newborn tested positive for methamphetamine and needs medical care for the foreseeable future after losing a life-threatening amount of blood from not having his umbilical cord clamped when he was born.
Guerra is charged with injury to a child and reckless serious bodily injury.
Court records show Guerra has posted a $150,000 bond. However, as of Wednesday afternoon, she was still in the process of being released, according to jail records.
Anyone unable to care for a newborn can take them to a designated safe place.
The state’s Safe Haven Law, also known as the Baby Moses law, allows parents who are unable to care for their children to legally and safely surrender them up until they are 60 days old by handing them over at designated safe places, like hospitals and fire stations.
Read more reporting on the KSAT Investigates page.
