A young mother in Texas, aged 18, has been apprehended by authorities after she reportedly discarded her newborn child in a dumpster, concealed in a trash bag. Everilda Cux-Ajtzalam was arrested last Thursday and faces a felony charge of child abandonment without intent to return, as per court documents.
The criminal complaint, filed in the District Court for Harris County, alleges that on July 21, 2024, Cux-Ajtzalam gave birth behind the food truck where she was employed. She is accused of placing her newborn son, referred to as “John Doe” or “CW” in court documents, in a tied garbage bag and leaving him in a dumpster on Dashwood Drive in Houston, Texas.
The court documents detail that the defendant placed the newborn, along with the placenta and umbilical cord, in a trash bag, which she then disposed of in a dumpster. A passerby later heard the infant’s cries and alerted the authorities. Houston Police Department officers and emergency medical personnel responded to the scene around 1:15 p.m. and were able to rescue the child from the dumpster.
The Houston Fire Department’s medics transported the infant to Texas Children’s Hospital for medical attention. The child was reported to be in stable and good condition. Following treatment, he was placed under the care of Child Protective Services.
Investigators were able to link the newborn to the food truck and subsequently located Cux-Ajtzalam. During an interview with detectives, Cux-Ajtzalam reportedly stated that she felt she “had no choice” but to abandon her child, fearing that her boyfriend would end their relationship if she didn’t. The incident was captured on surveillance footage.
Cux-Ajtzalam, a Guatemalan national, made her initial court appearance last Friday. Harris County District Court Judge Veronica M. Nelson reprimanded her for leaving her son in a garbage heap. Judge Nelson noted the child’s survival was due to sheer luck and the potential danger posed by the summer heat in Houston, Texas. The judge set the bail at $90,000.
Prosecutors had initially requested a bond of $150,000, while Cux-Ajtzalam’s public defender argued for a bond of $7,500. Despite the bail being set at $90,000, Cux-Ajtzalam remains in detention at the Harris County Jail due to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) hold on her release. She is scheduled for a court appearance on Monday.