FFs Care for Newborn Dropped off at Houston Station

Oct. 9, 2019
The baby, who was just an hour old, was left with the Houston firefighters staffing Station No. 21 Tuesday by a "visibly upset" woman.

Just hours after birth, a woman dropped off an infant early Tuesday at a southwest Houston fire station, police said.

The baby, who police believe had been born only a few hours earlier, was dropped off around 12:30 a.m. Tuesday at the Houston Fire Department Station No. 21 at the 10500 block of South Main Street, according HPD Lt. Larry Crowson.

Under the Texas Safe Haven Law, also known as the Baby Moses Law, a person can drop off a newborn baby under the age of 60 days old to a designated safe haven, such as a hospital or a fire station, without fear of prosecution if the person is unable to care for the child, according to the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.

The child was taken to a local hospital to be examined, Crowson said, adding that the child appeared to be in good health.

The firefighter who received the child did not question the woman, nor try to detain her because of the law, Crowson said.

The Houston Fire Department tweeted that firefighters took care of the newborn after it was dropped off by the woman, "who who was visibly upset." The "baby was just an hour old," it said.

Child protective services and juvenile investigators will determine the next steps, he said.

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©2019 the Houston Chronicle

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