Residents in the 4900 block of North Marvine were alarmed this morning when they awoke to learn that a new born baby had been left on their porch overnight. By the time police and paramedics arrived minutes later, the African-American baby girl was declared dead.
"When they were lifting her up and taking her, she was so pretty and she had blood on her so it was really a shame that someone would leave like a baby girl right there like that," neighbor Hanisha Ferguson said.
Police say the baby still had its umbilical cord and was wrapped in a brown bath towel.
Because it was cold last night, authorities think the child may have died of hypothermia, but for now, they're calling the child's death suspicious.
"I think that's terrible that somebody left a baby out there, that baby could've been saved," said neighbor Donald Williams.
Neighbor Tasha McKenzie told Action News she was not aware of anybody being pregnant on the block.
Police say the residents of the home where the baby was left have no idea why someone would choose to leave the new born on their porch. Police think it may have been chosen at random because the porch light was not on overnight, making for a very dark place to leave a baby.
"I was like actually gagging, like I had tears in my eyes cause that's a shame; I would never do that and it's a coincidence that out of all the houses and a fire station that's down there, she just coincidentally leaves the baby on that porch," said Ferguson.
"I want to know why it was next door, I really wish it was on my porch so that's she would have been able to be held and loved before she died; it's a shame," neighbor Jambrima Brown said.
"I was just surprised cause I've never seen nothing like that on this block. We've never had nothing like that on this block, you know, so that's scary," Williams said.
So far, police have no leads. They will be checking with hospitals to see if there were any recent births. They will also wait for the medical examiner's official call on the baby's cause of death.
