A 17-year-old Pennsylvania girl has been charged with attempted murder after her baby daughter was found alive in a plastic bag outside an upstate New York home.
Police in the city of Elmira say neighbors investigating a suspicious noise in the 600 block of Walnut Street Tuesday afternoon found a 12- to 16-month-old girl whose feet were sticking out of the bag.
They called 911 at around 1.15pm and began administering first aid until police and emergency crews arrived.
The baby was taken to a local hospital, where she was listed in stable condition. She was later transferred to another hospital for further evaluation, according to a press release from the Elmira Police Department.
Later Tuesday, police charged Harriette Hoyt with second-degree attempted murder. Officials say she is from Sayre, Pennsylvania, on the New York border about 20 miles southeast of Elmira.
She was arraigned on Tuesday and remanded to the Chemung County Jail pending her next court appearance scheduled for Monday.
Elmira resident Kayla Seals, who rescued the baby girl, tells WENY she heard some strange noises coming from the backyard and went to check it out, initially thinking it was a cat or a dog.
When she took a closer look at a white plastic bag resting near the bushes, she saw a pair of legs poking out. The baby's head and the rest of her body were inside the bag.
Seals tore the bag open and carried the child inside the house, where she and her sister called 911 and tended to the child by cleaning her up and giving her water, as she appeared to be dehydrated.
Sgt William Solt, with Elmira police, on Wednesday confirmed to DailyMail.com that Hoyt is the mother of the little girl found abandoned in the trash.
Solt also revealed that it's been estimated the child had spent more than 24 hours in the plastic bag, but said she is expected to make a full recovery.
- Daily Mail