Authorities believe a 14-year-old girl may have run over her newborn baby with a car after giving birth in a California strawberry field, where she worked as a labourer.
The infant, known as “Baby Angelita”, was found dead in August. County and federal law enforcement officials disclosed the suspected circumstances during a press conference on Thursday.
Investigators believe the teenager, who was allegedly impregnated by her father, delivered the baby beside a road before the child was moved to a position beneath a vehicle. Evidence at the scene appeared to suggest that the infant had been struck by a saloon car.
Detective Richard Geng of the Monterrey County Sheriff’s Department said: “Several feet from Baby Angelita was what appeared to be a large blood stain, which led detectives to believe that Baby Angelita was moved from where she was born to a location under a vehicle that ended up running her over.”
Authorities believe the car was connected to the girl’s parents. They said the teenager may have concealed her pregnancy from her mother, while her father, Sergio Galvez Perez, was not in the area on the day the infant died.
The girl was taken to hospital after police first questioned her, but officers said Mr Galvez Perez later removed her and took her to Mexico. He was arrested earlier this week and authorities are working to extradite him to the United States.
Ofelia Garcia Ortega, the teenager’s mother, was also arrested on suspicion of displaying or possessing a forged identification card, permitting a child to suffer or be endangered, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
Neither parent has been directly implicated in Baby Angelita’s death. It remains unclear whether the 14-year-old will face charges.
