The NYPD says Assa Diawara, 30, of Queens, has been arrested and charged after a newborn baby girl was found abandoned inside Penn Station on Oct. 20. Police had previously released this image as they sought to identify her for questioning.
Photo by NYPD/Crimestoppers
A Queens woman has been arrested and charged after police say she abandoned her newborn baby girl inside the 34th Street-Penn Station subway station earlier this week, according to authorities.
The NYPD announced Wednesday that Assa Diawara, 30, of St Albans in Queens, was taken into custody around 2:53 a.m. by detectives from the Manhattan Child Abuse Squad.
She is charged with abandonment of a child and endangering the welfare of a child, police said.
Authorities said the baby was discovered shortly after 9 a.m. Monday, Oct. 20, on the southbound 1 train platform. The newborn, who still had her umbilical cord attached, was found wrapped in a blanket by a passerby who alerted nearby officers.
Police said the child appeared to have been born just recently. Officers rushed the infant to NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue, where she was reported to be awake and in stable condition.
Police sources identified Diawara as the baby’s mother, though it remains unclear why she allegedly left the child in the station.
The investigation into the incident remains ongoing, according to police.