Surveillance camera footage released by the NYPD of Delfina Galvez carrying the tote bag that allegedly held her baby (WABC).
A New York woman turned herself in after police released footage of her allegedly abandoning her newborn baby girl in a Bronx neighborhood.
Delfina Galvez, 26, surrendered to the New York Police Department on Dec. 30, a day after CCTV footage of her carrying a green tote bag — allegedly containing her newborn baby girl — was shown to the public. The baby was found early in the morning on Dec. 29 outside a private home. She was taken in by the resident and later brought to the hospital.
At about 6:00 a.m. on the morning the baby was found, Mamadou Hafiz Jallow, the man who lived at the apartment, received a call from a neighbor while he was at prayer services at a nearby mosque. He immediately returned home and brought the baby inside. Jallow spoke to WABC, a local ABC affiliate, about finding the baby girl, who was said to be just days old, “very nicely wrapped, properly wrapped” in blankets in the tote bag.
He said, “I called 911, it was cold, I put the baby inside, I didn’t want to mess with any evidence, but it was too cold, I had to take the baby from outside,” adding “It’s amazing, I never thought something like this would happen in my life, but you know it’s life.”
WPIX, a local affiliate of the Nexstar network, also spoke with Jallow, who told them that when he finally got to the baby, she was “shaking the right hand and blinking the eyes. No crying or nothing. Quiet.” The baby was expected to be in good condition and would recover. She is reportedly still in the care of medical staff at NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi.
According to local news outlet Norwood News, Jallow’s apartment is located next-door to Family Services Network of New York Inc. Care Management & Coordination Program, a nonprofit organization that provides family services. Under New York State’s Abandoned Infant Protection Act, newborns under the age of 30 days can be surrendered at a safe location such as a hospital, police station, or firehouse, but someone must be notified upon arrival.
Galvez, who lives just down the block from where she allegedly abandoned her baby, turned herself in to the NYPD’s 46th Precinct in the Bronx after the video footage made the rounds. She was arrested and charged with first-degree reckless endangerment, abandonment of a child, and acting in a manner injurious to a child.
