The Brief
A 23-year-old woman faces a capital murder charge after police say she drowned her newborn daughter in a motel bathtub.
The woman’s 26-year-old boyfriend allegedly disposed of the infant’s body four days later.
A homeless woman discovered the infant’s body while dumpster diving outside a Fort Worth motel.
FORT WORTH, Texas – A Fort Worth mother is facing a capital murder charge after police say she drowned her newborn baby in a motel bathtub before her boyfriend threw the body in a dumpster.
What we know
Avia Cantrell, 23, and Camron Baker, 26, are now facing charges after a baby was found dead in a Fort Worth dumpster in the 7300 block of Camp Bowie Boulevard.
According to court documents, Cantrell admitted to police that she delivered a baby girl at the Drummers Inn in Fort Worth last week.
Police say Cantrell admitted to drowning the infant and leaving her body inside a bag in their motel room for four days.
The Investigation
The backstory
On Oct. 18, a homeless woman searching for items in a dumpster found a deceased infant girl inside a bag outside the Drummers Inn on Camp Bowie West Boulevard.
Police say the infant had been dead for an extended amount of time.
A day later, on Oct. 19, police received a welfare check call on 23-year-old Avia Cantrell. Cantrell’s sister-in-law requested the check, telling police that Cantrell was pregnant and due soon.
Officers contacted Cantrell in Room 205, where she had been living for the last two years with her 26-year-old boyfriend, Camron Baker, and her other children.
Police say Cantrell confessed to giving birth to a full-term baby girl in her bathtub. According to the arrest affidavit, Cantrell told detectives that she left the baby face-down in the water for approximately 30 minutes.
Cantrell called Baker at work to tell him she gave birth and the baby was gone, police say. The couple kept the deceased infant in a bag by the toilet for four days.
Baker told police they did not call for medical help when he returned home because they didn’t want to “catch a case.”
On Oct. 18, Baker placed the baby inside a brown luggage bag with flowers on it and threw it in the dumpster, officials said.
Baker is charged with abuse of a corpse. Cantrell is charged with capital murder of a person under ten years old.
What they’re saying
“Being that it was a baby, you know, that’s always very sad to hear when there’s a child involved in any situations like this,” Fort Worth Police PIO Cynthia Wood tells FOX 4’s Alex Boyer.
Wood relayed that there are public resources to help new mothers in the wake of this tragedy.
“They can surrender that baby to any hospitals and fire stations where the baby doesn’t have to be dumped in situations like this,” Wood said. “They do have a place for them to surrender them without any questions. QTs as well.”
What’s next
Cantrell remains in the Tarrant County Jail, and her bond has not been set. Baker is no longer listed on the Tarrant County Jail’s website.
The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services tells FOX 4 they are investigating the incident, and said Cantrell’s surviving children are in the custody of a relative. TDFP also a history exists between the department and Cantrell’s family.
The Source
The information in this article comes from an arrest affidavit for Avia Cantrell and Camron Baker, and previous FOX 4 reporting.