A Utah mother was arrested after leaving her newborn baby in a neighbor’s trash can.
Alicia Marie Englert, 23, was arrested Tuesday after her newborn was found in extremely critical condition. It was unsure where Englert gave birth or why she left her newborn in the trashcan. The state allows mothers to leave newborns at hospitals without consequences, reported the Associated Press.
On Tuesday morning, the neighbor heard a sound from the trash, but thought it was a kitten. Instead, the neighbor discovered the newborn who was then airlifted to a hospital in Salt Lake City. The baby is still currently in critical condition and on a ventilator.
Englert told police she left the child for an hour before she was discovered.
“We had a young lady make a very, very terrible decision,” Salt Lake County Sheriff, Jim Winder said.
A similar situation happened in Wyoming, which is also a state that allows a parent to give up a child to a hospital without facing criminal charges. On Monday, a 19-year-old abandoned her newborn after giving birth at the hospital, reported County 10.
Al Romeo of the Utah Department of health said that although not common, mothers in Utah have resorted to leaving their newborns in unsafe places. Over the past 10 years, there have been a few reported cases.