New Bedford

Mother of baby found dead at New Bedford fort in 2023 appears in court

Investigators believe the child's body was left at Fort Taber on Nov. 6, over a month before it was found by a woman walking

An aerial view of Fort Taber in New Bedford, Massachusetts.
NBC10 Boston

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 official cause and manner of the baby's death won't be released until autopsy on "Baby Doe" is done, and the district attorney said "it is imperative" that anyone with information about what happened to him come forward

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

WJAR

“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.

An infant's remains were found at Fort Taber in New Bedford, Massachusetts, over the weekend. Now advocates are trying to raise awareness about the state's Safe Haven act, which gives desperate parents a safe option to leave their newborn child.
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