Mother, 23, Charged with Murder of Baby Girl Found Dead in Bag Near Motel, Boyfriend, 26, Charged with Abusing Corpse
Avia CantrellCredit: Lon Evans Corrections Center
Police found a deceased baby near a motel dumpster in Fort Worth, Texas, on Sunday, Oct. 18
The mother was reportedly identified as 23-year-old Avia Cantrell after surveillance footage captured her at the motel
Cantrell and her boyfriend, Camron Baker, face charges over the baby’s death
A 23-year-old woman has been charged with capital murder after police allege she admitted to drowning her newborn baby in a motel bathtub in Texas.
On Sunday, Oct. 18, Fort Worth Police were called to the Drummers Inn on Camp Bowie West Boulevard, Fort Worth, after an unhoused person found a deceased baby girl in a bag near a dumpster outside the motel, Fox 4 News Dallas-Fort Worth, CBS News and The Dallas News reported.
Police said it appeared the child had been dead for some time, per the outlets.
The next day, the police received a welfare check call for 23-year-old Avia Cantrell from her sister-in-law. She told police Cantrell was pregnant and that she’d been living at the motel with her three other children, per Fox 4 News and Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Drummers Inn on Camp Bowie West Boulevard, Fort Worth, TexasCredit: Google Maps
Per an arrest affidavit, investigators said surveillance footage showed a woman putting a box containing an infant car seat in the motel dumpster, The Dallas News reported. The motel manager allegedly identified the woman as Cantrell.
The police contacted Cantrell at the motel and she allegedly admitted that she’d given birth to a baby girl in her bathtub on Oct. 14, and said she had left the baby face down in the water for about 30 minutes, according to an arrest affidavit, per Fox 4 News and CBS News.
Cantrell, who was living with her boyfriend Camron Baker at the motel, allegedly called him and told him that the baby had died. The couple kept the baby in a bag by the toilet for four days. Baker, 26, allegedly then placed the baby inside a brown luggage bag with flowers on it and threw it in the dumpster on Oct. 18, per Fox 4 News.
Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.
Camron Baker was charged with abuse of a corpse without legal authority on Oct. 19Credit: Lon Evans Corrections Center
On Monday, Oct. 19, Cantrell was charged with capital murder of a person under 10 years old. Baker is charged with abuse of a corpse, according to arrest records obtained by PEOPLE.
The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office (TCMEO) is determining the infant’s cause of death, per The Dallas News.
The investigation is ongoing.
PEOPLE has reached out to the Fort Worth Police and TCMEO for comment.
Source: Crime