A migrant mother claims she didn’t realise she had thrown her baby away after she was arrested when the tot was found in a New York City hospital bin.
Lucia Garcia, from Mexico, said she didn’t even know she had been pregnant, telling the New York Post she “thought it was just blood”.
“I didn’t know I put my baby in the trash until the nurse told me later,” she explained.
The 21-year old was arrested on May 21 after she was found covered in blood at Staten Island University Hospital.
A security officer and cleaning staff alerted authorities after hearing her newborn’s wails and locating him amongst dirty rubbish.
“I was in handcuffs in my bed at the hospital,” said Garcia, who was subsequently charged with two counts of assault, two counts of reckless endangerment and one count of acting in a manner injurious to a child.
The baby remains in hospital where he is in the custody of the city’s Administration for Children’s Services, a source said.
An order of protection has been issued against Garcia, meanwhile, who is due in court on June 16.
“I don’t know when I’m going to get him back,” she explained.
“I want him back. I want to take care of him. I just want my baby back.”
She added that the baby’s dad lives in Manhattan and he came to the room she shares with her own father in Staten Island a few times after the two met on Facebook.
Ambrosio Garcia, 41, said his daughter had insisted she wasn’t pregnant, and that he simply brought her to the hospital the night before as she was feeling ill.
He now plans to locate the baby’s dad, according to the new mother.
“He is going to have to pay for all of this,” the new mother said.
