Left: Everilda Cux-Ajtzalam (Harris County Sheriff’s Office). Right: Authorities recovering Cux-Ajtzalam’s newborn from the dumpster (KTRK).
An 18-year-old mother in Texas has been arrested after she allegedly threw her newborn baby into a trash bag and tossed it in the dumpster, telling police she believed she had to do it or else her boyfriend would break up with her. Everilda Cux-Ajtzalam was taken into custody on Thursday and charged with one count of felony abandoning a child without the intent to return, court records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
According to a criminal complaint filed in the District Court for Harris County, Cux-Ajtzalam on July 21, 2024, is accused of giving birth “on the ground behind the food truck where she works” and then taking the baby — referred to in documents as “John Doe” or “CW” — and placing him in “a tied garbage bag” and leaving him in a dumpster in the 6000 block of Dashwood Drive in Houston, Texas.
“(Defendant) put the child, placenta, & umbilical cord into a trash bag, took the trash bag to a dumpster, & left the child in the dumpster tied inside the trash bag,” a magistrate judge wrote in a bond order that included a brief narrative of what transpired.
Later, an individual walking past the dumpster heard the newborn crying and called 911. Officers with the Houston Police Department and emergency medical personnel at about 1:15 p.m. responded to the area and were able to recover the child from inside the dumpster.
Medics with the Houston Fire Department transported the victim to Texas Children’s Hospital for treatment. Authorities said the child was stable and in good condition. After being treated, he was placed into the custody of Child Protective Services.
Police quickly connected the newborn to the food truck and tracked down Cux-Ajtzalam. In an interview with detectives, Cux-Ajtzalam allegedly said that she “had no choice” but to put the baby in the dumpster because “she didn’t want her boyfriend to break up with her,” the bond order stated, adding that the “event” was caught on surveillance camera footage.
Cux-Ajtzalam, a Guatemalan national, made her first court appearance on Friday where she was chewed out by Harris County District Court Judge Veronica M. Nelson for leaving her son to die in a heap of garbage, according to a report from the Houston Chronicle.
“It was pure luck that the child was found and received care,” Nelson reportedly said. “Given the fact that it’s the middle of summer in Houston, Texas, and the temperature at the time noting the danger to the child; under those circumstances, I’m going to set the bail in this case at $90,000.”
Records show that prosecutors requested a bond of $150,000 and Cux-Ajtzalam’s public defender sought a bond of $7,500.
While Cux-Ajtzalam’s bond was ultimately set at $90,000, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has placed a hold on her release, records show. She currently remains in detention at the Harris County Jail and is scheduled to appear in court on Monday.
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