A 21-year-old North Carolina woman has been charged with attempted murder after she left her newborn baby boy in a trash bin behind a church, where a dog walker heard the baby’s cries and saved his life.
Maryuri Estefany Calix-Macedo is being held at the New Hanover County Jail on an $800,000 bond after an assessment at New Hanover Regional Medical Center, the Wilmington Police Department said.
Cynthia Burton was walking her dog Flounder on Thursday when she heard the baby crying. She found him in a black trash bag in the bin behind Christ Community Church, covered in blood with the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck, as CrimeOnline previously reported.
Police said the little boy is healthy and doing well at the hospital and that the Department of Social Services is looking for an appropriate foster home for him.
Burton told WECT that she found the newborn only because she chose a shadier route for her walk with Flounder Thursday afternoon in an effort to keep the dog’s feet off the sizzling pavement.
“But he cried, and he kept on crying. He cried until I went and got the bag and pulled him up,” she said. “And when I opened the bag, he stopped crying. That’s when I think he knew he was safe.”
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[Featured image: Maryuri Estefany Calix-Macedo/Wilmington Police Department]
