A young Mom, Lucia Garcia, 21, who emigrated from Mexico ten months ago, claims she did not know that she was pregnant and that she did not know she had thrown away her newborn son.
From her Staten Island home, she told the New York Post in Spanish, "I thought it was just blood. I didn’t know I put my baby in the trash until the nurse told me later.”
On May 20 at Staten Island University Hospital, an NYPD officer working a side job as security, and janitorial staff, heard the baby crying. They found the newborn baby boy in the garbage can and Garcia, covered in blood, was subsequently arrested. She was charged with two counts of assault, two counts of reckless endangerment, and one count of acting in a manner injurious to a child.
The baby was taken to NYU Langone Hospital where he is still hospitalized. He is in the custody of New York City's Administration for Children’s Services.
Garcia says she does not know her son's whereabouts, but she wants him back. She said, “I don’t know when I’m going to get him back. I want him back. I want to take care of him. I just want my baby back.”
“At first, I didn’t know if I was ready to be a mom,” she said. “I thought I had made an error — but now I just want him here with me.”
According to Garcia, the father of her son lives in Manhattan. He came to the Staten Island room she shares with her father a few times after the couple met on Facebook. Since the police took her cell phone at the hospital, Garcia has not been able to tell him that she gave birth to his baby.
“He is going to have to pay for all of this,” she said of the infant's father.
Garcia's court date is scheduled for June 16.
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