FULLERTON, Calif. – A California woman was arrested Friday and faces charges of attempted murder after reportedly dumping her newborn baby in a trashcan inside a restroom at a gas station on Thursday, according to reports.
Officers with the Fullerton Police Department responded to a Chevron gas station in the 900 block of West Orangethorpe Avenue around 3:30 p.m. on Thursday after the store clerk discovered an abandoned infant inside a restroom trash bin, police said, according to KTLA.
Responding officers discovered the infant sobbing inside the trashcan and called for assistance from the Fullerton Fire Department. Paramedics arrived on scene and performed life-saving measures on the newborn.
The baby was transported to a nearby hospital, where he remains in critical but stable condition, Fullerton Police Spokesman Sgt. Ryan O’Neil confirmed. The child’s parents were no where to be found.
Detectives initially said it was unclear where the woman gave birth to the baby boy, according to O’Neil.
Through their investigation, detectives identified the woman as 25-year-old Venissa Maldonado. They obtained a search warrant for her Fullerton apartment in the 400 block of West Orangethorpe Avenue, where she was taken into custody about 1:45 a.m. on Friday, KTLA reported.
Maldonado faces charges of attempted murder and felony child abuse, officials said.
“Through her statements to detectives, it was determined that the child was hers,” O’Neil told the New York Post.
The Safely Surrendered Baby Law in California allows parents to surrender newborns at any fire station, police department or other designated sites without fear of prosecution within 72 hours of the birth.
