Left: Everilda Cux-Ajtzalam (Harris County Sheriff’s Office). Right: Authorities recovering Cux-Ajtzalam’s newborn from the dumpster (KTRK).
A 19-year-old mother from Texas has been sentenced to prison for leaving her newborn son in a dumpster, stating that her boyfriend threatened to break up with her if she didn’t.
On Monday, Judge Veronica M. Nelson of Harris County determined Everilda Cux-Ajtzalam’s punishment, sentencing her to seven years in a state facility, as per court records. Cux-Ajtzalam made a plea deal, admitting guilt to the charge of felony child abandonment in the face of imminent danger after she left the baby, who has since been named “Gabriel,” in trash behind her workplace, a taco truck.
A passerby heard the boy’s cries and notified authorities, saving his life.
Cux-Ajtzalam, who has been in custody since her initial arrest last year, was credited with 369 days of time already served.
A spokesperson for the Harris County District Attorney’s Office commented to the Houston Chronicle, stating, “Today, baby Gabriel is thriving and in the care of his foster family. We are thankful for the individual who heard his cries from the dumpster, prompting a police response that ultimately saved Gabriel’s life.” Read more here.
Law&Crime reports that on July 21, 2024, Cux-Ajtzalam delivered her baby “on the ground behind the food truck where she worked,” afterward placing him in “a tied garbage bag” and leaving him inside a dumpster located on Dashwood Drive in Houston, Texas.
The incident was recorded in a bond order by a magistrate judge who noted, “(Defendant) put the child, placenta, & umbilical cord into a trash bag, took the trash bag to a dumpster, & left the child in the dumpster tied inside the trash bag,” detailing the events.
Soon after, a passerby heard the infant’s cries from the dumpster and alerted emergency services by calling 911. Officers from the Houston Police Department and medical personnel arrived around 1:15 p.m. and successfully retrieved the newborn from the dumpster.
Medics with the Houston Fire Department transported the victim to Texas Children’s Hospital for treatment. Authorities said the child was stable and in good condition. After being treated, he was placed into the custody of Child Protective Services.
Police quickly connected the newborn to the food truck and tracked down Cux-Ajtzalam. In an interview with detectives, she 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 bond order stated, adding that the “event” was caught by a nearby surveillance camera.
During Cux-Ajtzalam’s first appearance before Nelson in July 2024, the judge unloaded on the would-be mother for leaving her son to die in a heap of garbage.
“It was pure luck that the child was found and received care,” Nelson said, according to the Chronicle. “Given the fact that it’s the middle of summer in Houston, Texas, and the temperature at the time noting the danger to the child; under those circumstances, I’m going to set the bail in this case at $90,000.”
Cux-Ajtzalam previously said that her child was the result of a family member raping her, the Washington Post reported. She reportedly said she was not aware that she was pregnant for about seven months, and was afraid to seek medical assistance because, as an undocumented immigrant, she feared being deported.
