Jun 25, 2009 1:34 pm US/Eastern
NY Mother Faces Child Abandonment Charge
HEMPSTEAD (CBS) ―
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Bail has been set at half a million dollars for a Long Island mother accused of leaving her newborn in a shoebox in the lobby of an apartment building.
CBS
Bail has been set at half a million dollars for a Long Island mother accused of leaving her newborn in a shoebox in the lobby of an apartment building.
Xiomara Gamez of Hempstead pleaded not guilty Thursday. She was arraigned on charges of reckless endangerment, child abandonment and child endangerment.
Her attorney declined comment.
Prosecutors say Gamez suffers from a cocaine addiction. They say she has six other children who live with their father.
Tenants of 5 Lafayette Avenue made the startling discovery Sunday at about 9:30 p.m. Police say the newborn baby girl was found in a Timberland shoe box, abandoned in a vestibule in the building's lobby.
The newborn was wearing a "onesy" with the word "Bounce" across it. She was also wrapped in a yellow baby blanket with little green, purple, and lavender elephants on it. A tenant was coming home to the building on Lafayette Avenue when he noticed movement inside the box and found the little girl. She still had her umbilical cord attached – it was tied off with dental floss.
The state's safe haven law allows babies to be left within five days of birth at a police station, firehouse or hospital.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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