An aerial view of Fort Taber in New Bedford, Massachusetts.
A 22-year-old woman accused of abandoning her infant son's body at Fort Taber in New Bedford, Massachusetts, last year was arraigned Monday.
Daniela Michell Escobar-Mejia appeared in New Bedford District Court Monday, charged with improper disposal of a body.
The body of her baby boy, initially called "Baby Doe" before investigators could determine his identity, was discovered in a thicket by a walking path Saturday, Dec. 9, according to the Bristol County District Attorney's Office.
The child's remains were discovered in a plastic bag wrapped in a blanket by a woman and her niece out for a walk near Fort Taber about 12:40 p.m. that afternoon, prosecutors said. Neither they nor a man nearby who called 911 after the woman who discovered the body cried out were found to be connected to the baby's death, investigators concluded.
The body was taken to the Massachusetts Medical Examiner's Office, prosecutors said, but due to decomposition, a cause and manner of death couldn't be determined. The child was allegedly left in the park on Nov. 6, more than a month before his body was found.
Escobar-Mejia was identified with help from surveillance footage, prosecutors said. DNA analysis confirmed that she was the mother of the child. She was released on personal recognizance and ordered to follow Department of Children and Families orders throughout the case. Her next court date was scheduled for Sept. 12
“I want to thank investigators for their efforts in this very sad and tragic case,” District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III said in a statement.
After the baby's remains were found, advocates have worked to raise awareness about Massachusetts' safe haven law to prevent another child from meeting the same fate.
