Honk News – A representative from the New York Police Department has verified that Delfina Galvez, 26, was taken into custody on Monday, Dec. 30. She is now facing charges including child abandonment, first-degree reckless endangerment, and acting in a way that could harm a child, following an incident where she reportedly left a female infant outside a home in the Bronx on Sunday, Dec. 29.
According to the NYPD, a baby girl was discovered “wrapped in blankets inside a tote bag placed in front of a residence” at approximately 6 a.m. local time.
Footage released by CBS News New York captures a woman seemingly transporting a child in a tote bag along Reverend James A. Polite Avenue, before reappearing in the scene without the bag. The source confirmed the identity of the woman, who was subsequently identified by law enforcement as Galvez, the mother of the baby.
“It’s crazy. How do you leave a baby like this in the street?” resident Fatou Sair said, per CBS News New York.
Mamadou Hafiz Jallow, present at a nearby mosque when the infant was abandoned at his doorstep, recounted to CBS News New York that he received a call from his “next-door neighbor” informing him about the sound of a baby crying at his door.
He hurried home and dialed 911 after getting the baby inside. Jallow, recognized as an imam and having led prayers at the mosque for three years, described finding the baby as “very cold.”
“When I opened the blanket, I see a little baby, blinking their eyes and shaking their fingers,” he said.
Jallow mentioned that his efforts “could be the reason” for the infant being left at his doorstep, but he expressed uncertainty about the reasons behind the baby’s abandonment at his home.
An ambulance transported the infant to Jacobi Medical Center, where the NYPD reported the child was in stable condition. As of the past week, the NYPD reported that she is still under the care of hospital staff.
“Hearing that this is even a thing is very disturbing for this neighborhood,” one resident told FOX 5 New York.
The NYPD reports that Galvez resides close to the area where she is accused of abandoning the infant. According to regulations in New York, as reported by CBS News New York, parents can safely leave their newborns at hospitals, police stations, and firehouses without facing any legal repercussions.
“I just hope the baby to be well. That’s the most important thing, and then the mother to be forgiven,” Jallow told the outlet.