One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Mother Of Newborn Girl Found Buried Alive Has Been Arrested
An L.A. County Sheriff's deputy with the newborn along the Compton Creek. (Via L.A. County Sheriff's Dept.)
The mother of a newborn girl found buried in a Compton bike path has been arrested.On Sunday evening, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department announced the arrest and said that more details, including the mother's identity and the status of the baby, would be announced at a press conference on Monday morning. "As a result of the multiple leads generated due to the public's and media's assistance in this case, Special Victims Bureau’s detectives were able to identify and arrest the mother," Sheriff's officials said in a statement.
The newborn girl was found on the Friday after Thanksgiving, buried under a pile of rubble by a bike path along Compton Creek. Two women walking on the path near West 136th Street and North Slater Avenue heard the baby's cries and reported it to authorities. Deputies searching the area heard "a baby's muffled cry" and found the child, who was "cold to the touch" and estimated to have been born in the last 36 to 48 hours.
"The cry that I heard, as a father, was more of a cry for help, 'I'm hungry,' but not like 'I'm injured and hurt,'" said L.A. County Sheriff's Deputy Adam Collette, who found the newborn. "I know what I was hearing, but I didn't believe it."
The baby was taken to a hospital and eventually placed in the custody of the Department of Children and Family Services, according to KTLA. She will eventually be placed up for adoption.
Authorities say the parents of newborns caught in difficult situations do not have to resort to such measures and can safely surrender babies to any hospital or fire station in L.A. County, no questions asked. For more information on Safe Surrender, call 1-877-222-9723, or visit BabySafeLA.org.
Update, 11:45: Authorities have identified the mother as 33-year-old Porche Lardona Washington of Compton. The L.A. Times reports that Washington gave birth to the girl on November 23 and was released from the hospital on Thanksgiving. Washington hid her pregnancy from family and friends. "Basically she was stressed. She did not want to deliver the baby at first," said Sergeant Richard Ruiz of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Special Victims Bureau. "She was afraid."
Washington has been charged with attempted murder and child abandonment.
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
