BCSO: Teen mom ditched baby to party

ALBUQUERQUE,N.M. - A teenage mom is in jail after Bernalillo County Deputies said she ditched her baby for hours to party it up with friends in Albuquerque Wednesday night.

Detective said the teen could not figure out where her baby was the next morning, and almost triggered an Amber Alert when she called to report the 2-month-old missing.

17-year-old Ashley Gurule is facing a felony charge of child abandonment after investigators said she left her baby with a 16-year-old friend at an apartment on the 1000 block of Madeira SE so she could go party in a different unit in the Lido Apartment complex.

"The mother may have been drinking and consumed some other type of illegal drug," Sergeant Mark Kmatz with BCSO said.

The mom hung out at the party for hours and later went to her grandparent's home in the South Valley without her baby, according to Sgt. Kmatz.

"She went to bed, she went home last night and woke up this morning and decide to call the police," he said.

The mom told deputies the baby was abducted, and then the hunt began.

Dozens of deputies searched all over and were ready to issue an Amber Alert.

"We got resources offered to us from APD, from the FBI, from the National Center for Missing and Endangered Children," Kmatz said.

Thursday morning deputies found out Gurule left her infant with her 16-year-old friend, Cassandra Lopez.

"She's all, I'll be back in two minutes, and she never came back," Lopez said.

After hours of not hearing from Gurule, Lopez said she took the baby home to her mother's house in the South Valley to feed and take care of it.

"I'm not trying to diss on my best friend, but she cant take care of the baby," Lopez said.

That is what the state is worried about too.

Deputies eventually took the baby from Lopez and turned him over to the Children, Youth and Families Department.

The 17-year-old mother is in the juvenile detention center facing felony charges of child abandonment and abuse.

Deputies said CYFD will hold onto the infant for 48 hours until they can figure out if the teen should get him back, or if someone else should take care of him.