Sonia Cristal Jimenez (Las Cruces Police Department). Background: The portable toilets where Jimenez allegedly left her newborn daughter to die (KOAT).
In New Mexico, a 38-year-old woman faces charges for the alleged murder of her newborn daughter. Authorities claim Sonia Cristal Jimenez delivered the baby in a portable toilet and then discarded her into the waste tank, leading to her drowning.
Jimenez is charged with a first-degree felony of intentional child abuse resulting in death, as announced by law enforcement officials.
According to a statement from the Las Cruces Police Department, Jimenez was brought to a hospital by her boyfriend late Saturday night. Medical staff noted that she had recently given birth, yet the couple did not have a child with them.
Speaking with the police, the boyfriend revealed they had been at Burn Lake and that Jimenez had spent considerable time in the portable restrooms, as reported by the Las Cruces Sun. The lake is located approximately 220 miles from Albuquerque.
Police arrived at the scene near Burn Lake Road where the couple was last seen and found the newborn’s body inside a portable toilet’s waste tank. Firefighters from the Las Cruces Fire Department swiftly arrived and retrieved the “unresponsive infant” from the tank. Sadly, the baby was declared dead on-site.
Evidence collected by investigators suggests Jimenez delivered a live baby, severed the umbilical cord, and then placed the newborn in the tank, where she subsequently drowned.
“An autopsy conducted Monday at the New Mexico Medical Investigator’s Office in Albuquerque revealed that the baby was alive when she was dropped into the portable toilet,” the release states. “The autopsy showed that she breathed and swallowed the blue chemical liquid commonly used in portable restroom sanitation. The blue chemical was found in the baby’s trachea, lungs and stomach confirming that she breathed and swallowed the liquid while alive.”
Police said they believe Jimenez’s boyfriend, whose name has not been publicly released, was not aware that Jimenez had given birth at the lake. They do not anticipate charging him in connection with the baby’s death.
An arrest warrant was issued for Jimenez, who was taken into custody on Wednesday morning and transported to the Dona Ana County Detention Center for processing. She is currently being held without bond. It was not immediately clear when she was scheduled to appear in court.
