Fort Worth mother, boyfriend arrested after newborn found in dumpster

A 23-year-old Fort Worth woman faces a capital murder charge after investigators say she left her newborn daughter face down in a water-filled bathtub before the infant’s body was discarded in a dumpster outside a west Fort Worth motel.

Avia Lynette Cantrell is accused of killing the infant Oct. 14 at the Drummers Inn in the 7300 block of Camp Bowie West Boulevard, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.

Her boyfriend, Camron Kyjuan Baker, 26, also was arrested Monday on a charge of abuse of a corpse, according to a separate arrest warrant affidavit.

Fort Worth police responded Sunday evening after a woman searching through a dumpster outside the motel discovered the infant and sought help. CPR was attempted before the child was transported to Cook Children’s Medical Center, according to the affidavit.

While investigators reviewed surveillance footage Monday, Cantrell’s sister-in-law requested a welfare check, telling police Cantrell was pregnant and due soon, according to the affidavit.

Surveillance footage from Sunday afternoon showed a woman placing a box containing an infant car seat in the motel dumpster. The motel manager identified the woman as Cantrell, investigators wrote.

When questioned by investigators, Cantrell initially denied being pregnant or having any involvement in the infant’s death. She later acknowledged giving birth to a girl about 7 a.m. Oct. 14 in her motel bathtub, according to the affidavit.

Cantrell told detectives the infant was moving after birth but that she left the baby face down in the water for approximately 30 minutes. She said she believed the child was dead after noticing her feet had turned white.

She then covered the infant and placed her in a bag, investigators wrote. The child’s body remained in the motel room for approximately four days.

Baker told investigators Cantrell called him at work after giving birth and said the baby had died. He told detectives they did not seek medical assistance because they feared facing criminal charges, according to his arrest warrant affidavit.

Cantrell asked Baker on Sunday to dispose of the infant’s body because she could not do it herself, investigators wrote. Baker told detectives he placed the body in the dumpster outside the motel.

The investigation remains ongoing. The Tarrant County medical examiner’s office has not released the infant’s cause or manner of death.