By Cheyenne Roundtree, Hannah Parry and Jennifer Smith
WARNING: Disturbing content
A disturbing video shows the moment a man discovered a newborn baby dumped in a bush, covered in bugs and crying with her umbilical cord still attached.
The infant was discovered in the bushes outside an apartment complex in Houston, Texas, on Thursday morning by a resident who heard it crying as he walked by, the Daily Mail reports.
The baby was suffering from a bacterial infection and rapid heart rate. She is now being treated at a local hospital but is in a good condition.
Video released on Friday shows the moment the shocked man found the newborn, saying in amazement: "Somebody left their baby out here. I need to call 911."
Deandre Skillern came forward as the father when he appeared in court today after cops tracked him and the mother, named locally as Sidney Woytasczyk, 21, to their home at Cypress Creek apartments after following a trail of blood. Woytasczyk is still being questioned by police although she has not yet been charged.
Skillern claims she had no idea that she was pregnant, and it appears that Woytasczyk didn't tell anyone about the baby, before she was discovered today.
Even Woytasczyk's mum Tina, who attended court on Friday, revealed she didn't know her daughter was pregnant.
Graphic evidence was also presented to the court that showed that the umbilical cord was ripped, not cut out, which likely caused the baby girl's bacterial infection.
According to police, the mother dumped the baby around 11.30pm on Wednesday night, nearly six hours before the child was discovered, reported Click2Houston.
Harris County Deputy Thomas Gilliland said to the station: "Had this neighbor not been here, we'd be looking at a homicide. It's a miracle the child was found."
Albert Peterson was walking out of the apartment complex when he heard the baby crying around 5am on Thursday morning.
He found her lying in the soil of a flower bed, covered in ants and other debris. Her umbilical cord was still attached.
Photo / Facebook
Peterson lifted the baby off the ground, cleaned and swaddled her and called police.
"Because how the child was found, the child was found unprotected, exposed to, almost to the brink of possibly being deceased," prosecutor Dan-Phi Nguyen, with the Harris County District Attorney's Office, told ABC 13.
Speaking to Channel 2, Peterson said: "I heard something like a cat. She was there on the ground in the flower bed with ants.
"She was covered from head to toe and all in her ears... She had a lot of strength too. She was fighting."
John Baldwin, who recorded the shocking video, added to the news station: "I was like 'Hey, there's a baby outside on the sidewalk.' I was like, 'Call 911!'"
When Harris County Sheriff's Officers arrived, they spotted a trail of blood on the ground. They followed it to an apartment door at the complex. Its residents at first refused to answer.
When they did allow police inside, a 21-year-old woman denied having any knowledge of the infant but then confessed that she had given birth to her an hour earlier.
Police officers said they were thankful the baby was found alive.
Neighbours questioned why the mother had left the baby outside the apartments when there is a hospital less than a block away.
The baby girl was taken in to the custody of child protection services.
Deandre has now taken a DNA test and is awaiting the results. But he has told the court he is sure he is the father and hopes to get custody, as does the baby's maternal grandmother Tina.
The newborn will remain in the hospital's custody until custody proceedings are finished, Child Protective Services said on Friday.
Although people have begun contacting the agency wishing to adopt the little girl, the department is not at that point yet.
Prosecutors said a grand jury will be presented with the case next week to determine if Woytasczyk will face charges. Skillern is not expected to be charged.
Parents who want to give up their babies in Texas can do so without fear of prosecution as long as they follow the Baby Moses Law.
The rules state the child must be under 60 days old, unharmed, and taken to a designated "Safe Haven" which can be any hospital, fire station or emergency medical services station in Texas.
