Alexee Trevizo, 19, accused of murdering newborn at hospital
Alexee Trevizo (Artesia Police Department, Eddy County Detention Center)
A teen who showed up at a New Mexico hospital with lower back pain and allegedly locked herself in a bathroom after being told she was pregnant now faces charges in the death of her newborn son.
Alexee Trevizo was arrested Thursday by the Artesia Police Department in connection with the Jan. 27 incident at Artesia General Hospital, where the defendant’s baby was found not breathing in a trash bag inside of a bathroom. Authorities say that an autopsy found the baby was the victim of a homicide caused by a lack of oxygen.
“Artesia Police Department detectives presented case information to the 5th Judicial District Attorney’s Office on March 28, 2023. A criminal complaint was approved on May 10, 2023, and formal charges were filed on the suspect, and mother of the victim,” cops said.
As police phrased it, Trevizo is charged with first-degree murder “or alternatively” intentional abuse of a child resulting in death, plus a count for tampering with evidence.
“[T]he above-named defendant(s) did: Kill John Doe, a human being, without awful justification or excuse,” the complaint said, alleging that Trevizo “did knowingly intentionally or negligently, and without justifiable cause, cause or permit John Doe, a child, to be placed in a situation that endangered or might have endangered John Doe’s life or health and the abuse resulted in the death of John Doe.”
The defendant did also “destroy, change, hide, place or fabricate physical evidence, to wit [John Doe], with the intent to prevent the apprehension, prosecution, or conviction,” the complaint added.
According to KOB 4, a housekeeper at the hospital noticed a trash bag that was “heavier than usual” and blood in the bathroom back in January. The defendant had earlier come to the facility with back pain and medical professionals told her she was pregnant. After that, Trevizo allegedly locked herself in the bathroom for an extended period of time, gave birth, and placed the newborn in the trash bag.
Trevizo allegedly claimed that the baby wasn’t breathing when he was born, so she panicked and threw the baby in the trash. After months of investigation and the results of an autopsy on March 28, authorities assert that the baby boy was actually born alive and died because he was placed in the bag.
Defense attorney Gary C. Mitchell called this a “horrific case of a young person who goes for help to the right place — the place in that community she should be at.”
“She went there for help, and this is the result?” the attorney asked.
Eddy County Detention Center records reviewed by Law&Crime show that Trevizo was booked at 5:36 p.m. on Thursday and has no bond. Prosecutors were reportedly expected to argue Friday in favor of the suspect’s continued detention.
Just weeks ago, another teen mother in New Mexico was convicted of attempted murder for placing her newborn son inside a plastic bag and discarding the baby in a dumpster. In that case, the defendant told investigators that she didn’t know what to do and panicked after learning one day earlier that she was pregnant.
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