Texas Mom Accused of Leaving Newborn Face-Down in Motel Bath for 30 Minutes, Boyfriend Allegedly Dumped Body

Texas mother Avia Cantrell, 23, faces a capital murder charge after police alleged she left her newborn daughter face-down in a Fort Worth motel bathtub for about 30 minutes following the birth on 14 October.

Officers were called to the Drummers Inn four days later after an unhoused person discovered a baby girl's body outside the motel. Cantrell had been staying there with her boyfriend, Camron Baker, who is accused of disposing of the infant's remains in a dumpster.

Baker, 26, faces a separate charge of abuse of a corpse. Although investigators allege the baby drowned, the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office was still determining her cause of death.

Welfare Call Led Police to Avia Cantrell

The discovery brought officers to the motel on Camp Bowie West Boulevard on Sunday, 18 October. Police believed the baby, whose remains were in a bag, had been dead for some time when she was discovered.

The following day, Cantrell's sister-in-law contacted police to request a welfare check. She told officers that Cantrell was pregnant and had been living at the motel with her three other children.

Investigators also examined surveillance footage that allegedly depicted a woman placing a box containing an infant car seat in the motel dumpster, according to an arrest affidavit.

The motel manager identified the woman as Cantrell. That identification concerned the woman disposing of the box and car seat, while investigators attributed the separate allegation of disposing of the baby's body to Baker.

What Cantrell Allegedly Told Detectives

When officers contacted Cantrell at the motel, she told them she had delivered a baby girl in her bathtub on 14 October. The arrest affidavit set out her alleged account of the birth and the newborn's time in the water.

Investigators described her statements as an admission that she had drowned the infant shortly after giving birth.

'Cantrell told detectives that she left the baby face-down in the water for approximately 30 minutes,' Fox 4 News reported.

Investigators allege that Cantrell then called Baker and told him the baby had died. The couple allegedly stored the remains in a bag near the toilet for about four days before Baker removed them from the room.

Baker allegedly placed the infant inside a brown luggage bag decorated with flowers and discarded it in the dumpster on 18 October, the same date officers were called to the motel following the discovery of the body.

Separate Charges for Cantrell and Baker

Cantrell was charged with capital murder of a person under 10 years old on Monday, 19 October, according to arrest records. The records also listed an abuse of a corpse charge against Baker.

Cantrell is accused of causing the newborn's death, while Baker faces a separate charge over the disposal of her remains. He told officers he did not contact police because the pair did not want to 'catch a case', court documents state.

The Fort Worth Police Department's Crimes Against Children Unit is investigating the infant's death. The precise circumstances of the newborn's death remain central to the investigation, while the evidence gathered will be examined as the separate cases against both defendants move forward in court.