The idea of abandoning a child is absurd to most people, and yet so many babies are abandoned every year.
“Discarded infants” refer to newborns who’ve been left in public places other than hospitals, without any supervision and little chance of survival.
One of these babies was found in a strip-mall parking lot.
A young man reportedly drove into a Northern California strip-mall parking lot, parked the car and then took out a baby’s car seat with a baby in it.
The 18-year-old father left the car seat on the ground and then drove off.
Two employees at a barber shop noticed the child car seat sitting unattended, and on closer look they found a baby in it and called police.
The 16-day-old baby was taken to a children’s hospital and was in critical but stable condition.
The infant reportedly suffered from a condition that required specialized care.
Police were able to get the vehicle’s license plate from surveillance video and identified the man.
When the barbershop employees went outside and saw there was a newborn inside the carrier, they decided to wait for a moment “because we thought somebody forgot the baby.”
Surveillance video from the Mega Smoke Shop in Suisun City, Calif., shows a man identified as 18-year-old Daniel Mitchell abandoning his 2-week-old son in the parking lot on July 24.
The teen was involved in a hit-and-run crash and hospitalized later on that the same day he left his baby in the parking lot, in a nearby town. Police found him in Fairfield, and confirmed that he was the father of the baby.
Police arrested Mitchell on suspicion of child endangerment, child abandonment, committing a felony while free on bail and misdemeanor possession of suspected cocaine.
Police said they have interviewed the boy’s mother, but she is not considered a suspect.
Some states have “safe haven boxes” at hospitals, police stations, and fire stations as an “easy access” way for parents to legally give up their infants.
The Safe Haven Law is in place to provide a safe way to surrender your healthy newborn without fear of any criminal prosecution.
Fire Stations, Police Stations and Hospitals are trained to be a Safe Haven for babies when parents don’t know what else to do. For more information, visit: http://www.safehavenbabyboxes.com