AUSTIN – A newborn girl found in a dumpster Wednesday morning has been taken to Dell Children’s Medical Center in critical condition, police said.
Austin police said they were called to the Mira Vista apartment complex along the 9600 block of Middle Fiskville Road around 6:55 a.m. Oct. 25 after a passerby found the girl.
Tara Snyder, who lives in the complex, said she woke up when she heard a woman screaming "a baby" multiple times. She told KVUE that she and other neighbors ran to the dumpster and found the girl with the umbilical cord still attached and blood next to the dumpster.
Snyder, who is an outreach ambassador for an adoption agency, helps pregnant women weigh their options when it is not the right time for them and do not want to choose abortion.
"She couldn't cry. She was not moving. She was almost purple. We honestly thought she was already dead. So did EMS," Snyder told KVUE. "And when they got her out of the dumpster, they tried to perform CPR but she was already alive...It hits hard, especially because I have my own two. This is not an option. I don't even see desperation ... this is just cold, cold-blooded. She didn't care."
Austin-Travis County EMS transported the newborn to the hospital. Snyder also told KVUE she dropped off adoption information at Dell Children's Medical Center.
The Austin Police Department's Child Abuse Unit is investigating.
In a press conference Wednesday afternoon, police said that had they not received a 9-1-1 call the baby girl might not have been discovered in time. Police reminded that there are Safe Haven Laws available that allow babies 60 days or younger to be dropped off at safe zones including fire stations, EMS or freestanding emergency medical care facilities, and those who choose to drop off their babies will be able to keep their identities confidential and the babies will get the medical care they need.
At the conference, police said a suspect had not been identified and that anyone with more information should call the APD Child Abuse Unit or submit a tip through the APD app.
This story will be updated as more information becomes available.