Fort Worth newborn drowned in motel bathtub, mother charged with capital murder
Two charged in death of an infant
Newly released police documents say a 23-year-old woman drowned her newborn baby in a bathtub before her boyfriend disposed of the body days later.
CAMP BOWIE, 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.
According to court documents, Cantrell admitted to police that she delivered a baby girl at the "Drummers Inn" 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 three 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.
The Source: The information in this article comes from an arrest affidavit.