Oct. 22 (UPI) — A 30-year-old woman has been arrested in connection to an abandoned baby on a New York City subway platform, according to investigators.
On Tuesday, Assa Diawara was picked up by police after its alleged she left the infant at the foot of a staircase at a subway stop Monday morning around 9 a.m. EDT at the 34th St.-Penn Station stop.
According to investigators, the baby wrapped in the blanket still had her umbilical cord attached.
New York’s Abandoned Infant Protection Act, also known as the safe haven law, permits parents to leave a newborn up to 30 days old anonymously and without prosecution, provided the infant is left in a safe place.
Suitable locations include hospitals, staffed police stations, and fire stations, where the parent must also notify an appropriate person to comply with the law, according to the state’s Office of Children and Family Services.
The law aimed to ensure the safety of abandoned infants while offering parents a legal, confidential option to relinquish their child.
Video footage depicted Diawara entering a Cadillac livery cab to Jamaica, Queens.
Meanwhile, Diawara was charged with child abandonment and endangering the welfare of a child.