Affidavit: Mother arrested after baby found in dumpster

Editor’s Note: The video above is a KXAN newscast from Sept. 22, 2025.

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Austin Police Department said it has arrested a suspect in connection with a baby that was found abandoned inside a north Austin dumpster Saturday. The suspect was identified as the child’s mother in an affidavit.

According to an arrest affidavit obtained by KXAN, police arrested 22-year-old Neli Dinora Rivera-Felipe, and she was charged with abandoning/endangering a child involving imminent danger, which is a second-degree felony.

Investigators connected Rivera-Felipe to the incident by utilizing surveillance footage and information provided by neighbors at the apartment complex where the baby was found.

During an interview with police, Rivera-Felipe waived her right to counsel and to remain silent. She then told detectives she gave birth to the child Friday, Sept. 19, in the bathroom of the apartment, according to the affidavit.

“[Rivera-Felipe] said she was scared and unsure about what she would do with the baby. Neli described the baby as being lifeless and not moving,” the affidavit said.

Court documents said she then told detectives she put the baby in a white bucket before putting the child into one dumpster and the bucket into another.

According to the affidavit, a white bucket was found in a ditch with “what appeared to be blood and hair inside.”

On Saturday, APD said the baby was found safe in the 8600 block of North Lamar Boulevard at around 1:36 p.m. with no health issues present at the time. The baby was taken to Dell Children’s Medical Center and was placed into Child Protective Services, police said. 

As of Thursday morning, Rivera-Felipe is in custody on a $50,000 bond, according to Travis County jail records. KXAN will reach out to her attorney and update this story when we receive a response.

According to a KXAN report, Texas lawmakers passed the Safe Haven Law in 1999, giving parents unable to care for their child the option to leave them unharmed at hospitals, fire stations or EMS stations without consequences.

The Texas Safe Haven Law was adjusted in 2023 to include baby boxes, which are secured, temperature-regulated boxes connected to the inside of a safe-site location like a fire, EMS, police station or hospital. 

There are several baby boxes in Texas, but none are in Austin.

The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services said there have been 11 Safe Haven surrenders so far this year. There were 14 in 2024. 

Sam Stark contributed to this report