HOBBS, N.M. (KRQE) – The New Mexico community where a teen mother threw her newborn in a dumpster wants to make sure there’s a safe place for mothers in crisis to surrender their babies.
It has been a little more than a week since Alexis Avila was sentenced to 16 years in prison for abandoning her son in a Hobbs dumpster before he was found alive by dumpster divers.
Now, the City of Hobbs has unveiled its first baby box on the east side of the fire station with the help of the national organization “Safe Haven Baby Boxes.“
When a baby is placed in the box, it triggers a silent alarm, and someone will attend to the child within five minutes.
The idea is to allow for anonymous surrender with no questions asked.
Española also installed a baby box through Safe Haven last year, and Carlsbad has approved one as well.
