A New Mexico woman gave birth inside of a portable toilet and “dropped” her newborn daughter inside the toilet’s holding tank, where the infant drowned, according to police.
Now, Sonia Cristal Jimenez, 38, is facing one count of intentional child abuse resulting in death, which is a first-deree felony, the Las Cruces Police Department said in a news release posted to Facebook on Wednesday, February 11.
An attorney was not listed for Jimenez in court records viewed by Us Weekly on Friday, February 13. Records indicate that she has not yet entered a plea.
After Jimenez allegedly gave birth on February 7, her boyfriend took her to a Las Cruces hospital that same evening at about 10:30 p.m., when staff learned she “appeared to have just delivered a baby,” police said.
However, staff noticed the “baby was not with her” and called police, according to authorities.
Jimenez’s boyfriend told police that before they went to the hospital, he and Jimenez were at Burn Lake, where Jimenez used a portable toilet, according to police. Burn Lake is about a 225-mile drive south from Albuquerque.
The tip led authorities to find the body of Jimenez’s newborn inside the toilet’s holding tank, police said.
Las Cruces firefighters “recovered the lifeless baby,” according to authorities.
An investigation revealed Jimenez likely cut her baby’s umbilical cord after giving birth, then put her inside of the toilet, police said.
An autopsy performed on Monday, February 9, confirmed that Jimenez’s baby “was alive when she was dropped” into the portable potty’s liquid, according to police.
“The autopsy showed that she breathed and swallowed the blue chemical liquid commonly used in portable restroom sanitation,” police said.
The blue chemical liquid was located in the newborn’s “trachea, lungs and stomach,” revealing “she breathed and swallowed the liquid while alive,” according to police.
Investigators do not believe her boyfriend had known Jimenez gave birth to her daughter inside the bathroom, police said.
Authorities do not expect to file charges against him in relation to the baby’s death, according to police.
Jimenez was arrested on Wednesday, February 11, and booked into the Doña Ana County Detention Center, police said. She is being held without bond.
In a comment left under the Las Cruces Police Department’s Facebook post about Jimenez’s arrest, Facebook user Ralph Monget wrote that “While everyone is saying a prayer for this child, don’t forget to say one for the police and firefighters who had to deal with this tragedy firsthand.”
“The firefighter who went into that mess to retrieve this child’s lifeless body. The investigators who attended the autopsy,” Monget said. “These are incidents and images that will stay with them for the rest of their lives. Yet they are required to tuck it away and move on to the next call. Keep them in mind as you lift up this child!!”
His comment, which was left with more than 1,000 other comments, garnered nearly 400 reactions.
Jimenez made her first court appearance on Thursday, February 12, records show. Her next court date was not immediately listed.
If you or someone you know is experiencing child abuse, call or text Child Help Hotline at 1-800-422-4453.
