Houston Chronicle
HOUSTON, Texas — An energetic baby girl with large steel-gray eyes and a black mohawk was surrendered to Houston firefighters on Monday afternoon by a woman believed to be a Good Samaritan.
The 5-month-old was handed over to officials just before 2 p.m. at Houston Fire Department Station No. 35 in the 5500 block of Van Fleet in southeast Houston.
Firefighters contacted the Houston Police Department and inspected the baby.
“She was in good shape,” said HFD spokesman Capt. Ruy Lozano. “She was clean, in good health, with good color and good body weight.”
The person also left a small bag that included a pacifier and formula, he said.
The woman said she met the baby’s mother before daylight on Monday and offered to care for the girl, Child Protective Services spokeswoman Estella Olguin said.
Medication with the infant enabled CPS investigators to contact her doctor and relatives. Officials have confirmed that the baby was born on Oct. 30.
“We know who the child is. We know who the mother is,” Olguin said.
CPS officials spoke to the caretaker briefly on the phone, but were not able to interview her fully on Monday.
She claimed to have encountered the mother at a gas station and gave her a ride to a motel in the wee hours Monday morning.
“When they arrived at the motel, the little baby girl was in there by herself,” Olguin said.
That’s when the Good Samaritan offered to keep the baby. When she returned to the room, the mother had checked out.
“No one was around to know how to contact (the mother), so she took the baby to the fire station - thinking that was the best thing to do,” Olguin said, adding that officials have not heard the mother’s side of the story.
The infant was placed with a foster family for Monday night and CPS officials will be in court Tuesday requesting emergency custody.
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