The mother charged with leaving her newborn baby at a bustling New York City subway station made a notable appearance in court, wearing a sweatshirt with an unexpected message.
Assa Diawara, a 30-year-old resident of Queens, was taken into custody early Wednesday morning, around 3 a.m., and now faces charges of child abandonment and endangerment, according to the New York Police Department.
Following her arrest, Diawara was seen departing from Manhattan Criminal Court later the same day. She was dressed in a tan sweatsuit featuring the phrase “Good Vibes Only” and concealed her face with a medical mask.
While detained, Diawara reportedly admitted to the district attorney’s office that she had given birth to the baby girl mere hours before leaving her at Penn Station.
Prosecutors requested, and were granted, her release under the lowest level of supervised conditions, with her next court appearance set for December 8.
Diawara’s arrest followed the police’s release of unsettling surveillance footage, captured the day before, that showed her en route to the station amid the Monday morning commute. It was there, authorities say, she left the newborn behind.
She was wearing pink pants, a patterned top, a red headscarf and glasses.
The baby was eventually found at the bottom of the stairs leading to the southbound 1, 2 and 3 trains at the 34th Street-Penn Station station in Midtown Manhattan around 9.30am, authorities said.
Assa Diawara (pictured), 30, was arrested in Queens shortly before 3am on Wednesday and charged with abandoning and endangering a child
Diawara’s arrest comes a day after police released harrowing surveillance images of the mother heading to the station during Monday morning rush hour
Officials said the baby girl’s umbilical cord was still attached, and she was taken to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition.
‘I’m calling it the Miracle on 34th Street, the FDNY and police department responded, they found a baby that was unattended,’ New York City Transit President Demetrius Crichlow said at a press conference.
Diawara was allegedly picked up by a driver near West 34th Street minutes before her baby was discovered and was driven back to her home in Jamaica, Queens, sources told The New York Post.
Her landlord, only identified as Bobby, told the outlet he confronted Diawara on Tuesday at the African grocery store where she worked after seeing the surveillance images.
‘I said, “Are you pregnant?” She said, “Daddy, I’m not pregnant. I live by myself. I don’t have a boyfriend,”‘ Bobby said, noting that calling an elderly man or woman as daddy or auntie is sign of respect in their culture.
‘I sent her the picture and said “It looks like you.” She said, “Daddy, please it’s not me.” I told her to go home and take care of the problem and she said she’ll go home when she closed [the store].’
Bobby explained that Diawara lived in the basement apartment of his Queens property, where his daughter also lives, and neither of them ever had an issue with her.
Diawara covered her face with a mask and wore a tan sweatsuit emblazoned with the phrase ‘Good Vibes Only’ as she appeared in court
The baby was eventually found at the bottom of the stairs leading to the southbound 1, 2 and 3 trains at the 34th Street-Penn Station station with her umbilical cord still attached
‘If she gave the child to me, I’d have taken it. I’m African. She’s from Africa. If they [the authorities] give me the baby right now, I’ll take it,’ he said.
In the state of New York, it is a felony to abandon a child under the age of 14.
The State’s Abandoned Infant Protection Act allows a parent to anonymously abandon a newborn up to 30 days old, as long as the baby is left in a safe place such as a hospital, police or fire station and in a safe manner.
The subway system in New York City handles roughly 3.9 million riders daily, according to Parking Day.
