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Police: Baby not abandoned; mother surrendered infant

 
Published May 25, 2018

TAMPA — A newborn baby initially thought to be found on the ground near a trash can in north Tampa was not abandoned, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said Friday.

The child's mother gave birth to the boy Thursday, and she and someone else took the baby to Florida Hospital Tampa on E Fletcher Avenue, the Sheriff's Office said.

The mother surrendered the baby, and no charges are pending, said Sheriff's Office spokesman Danny Alvarez.

Initially, deputies said a woman walking by saw the baby on the ground wrapped in a red blanket near the intersection of N 18th Street and E 143rd Avenue at about 5:30 p.m. But that was not accurate, deputies now say.

A detective with the Sheriff's Office asked for help identifying the mother Thursday night.

The mother was identified Friday.

"The mother and the original complainant drove the baby directly to the hospital," Alvarez said.

Alvarez said the baby was in critical but stable condition because it was born outside of a hospital and that there was no child abuse.

Florida law allows a mother to anonymously surrender an infant under seven days old to a hospital, an emergency medical service station or a fire station without question.