What led to Sidney Woytasczyk a Houston, Texas mother abandoning her newborn baby outside of the apartment complex she lived?
Sidney Woytasczyk a 21 year old Harris County, Texas woman has been taken into custody after abandoning her newborn baby moments after the child was born.
Notice of the baby’s discovery came last week, circa midnight, August 10, when a neighbor happened about the newborn child lying on the grass outside of the woman’s Cypress Creek, Houston apartment complex. Witnesses said the child’s umbilical cord had been ripped out, with the child covered in ant bites.
A report via cw39 told of the abandoned child remained outside unattended for nearly 6 hours before being discovered.
Prosecutors said investigators followed a trail of blood to Woytasczyk’s apartment.
The newborn baby girl was brought to Texas Children’s Hospital, where she remains in ICU for a bacterial infection and rapid heartbeat.
A nurse said since the umbilical cord wasn’t properly cut or clamped, the child was in danger of bleeding out and would have died imminently if she hadn’t been found when she was.
So desirous was Woytasczyk of not being found out, the woman gave birth on her own in the kitchen before discarding the child, only to return and ‘clean up the mess’.
Upon her arraignment on Monday, the mother was charged with felony child abandonment causing serious bodily injuries according to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office.
Woytasczyk told authorities that she didn’t know she was pregnant and ‘didn’t want the baby to cause issues with her boyfriend.’
‘We’re talking about a newborn child that was exposed to the outside for, like, six hours unattended, without even a blanket – so, that’s, that’s what I’m concerned about,’ said CPS Attorney Dan Phi Nguyen via KHOU.
‘I’m in shock,’ neighbor Roger Coreas said via foxnews. ‘There’s a hospital not even a block down the road, and if the mother was so worried about the infant’s safety she could’ve easily gone to drop off the baby.’
Appearing in court Monday, prosecutors sought a bond of $40,000 but the judge reduced it to $20,000. The suspect’s defense attorney argued Woytasczyk has no criminal history and is a student with limited funds, earning only $400 a month.
Remarking on the case, HCSO Deputy Kimberly Thomas said the child father was unaware the child existed. Investigators said the boyfriend, identified as Deandre Skillern had commented on Woytasczyk’s recent gain in weight and asked if she was pregnant, only for the girlfriend to deny she was pregnant. The man isn’t expected to face charges in the case.
Skillern said he was awaiting the results of DNA results and hopes to attain custody of the child.
Mothers seeking to give up their newborn babies in Texas can without fear of prosecution as long as they follow Texas Safe Haven Law. Rules state the child must be under 60 days old, unharmed and taken to a designated safe haven which can be any hospital, fire station or emergency medical center.
However, it is unlikely that Woytasczyk would be protected by this law after her baby was abandoned in a bush, and left to the elements.
If convicted, Woytasczyk could face up to 20 years in prison.
