Worker finds body of baby at De Anza

Baby was born alive; sheriffs are treating case
as a homicide

A newborn baby was found dead in a trash receptacle at De Anza College on Friday morning. At 10 a.m., a maintenance worker for the college discovered the body in an outdoor trash can near the east parking lot next to Stelling Road.

The newborn was in a Lucky's brown plastic shopping bag wrapped in a white towel with red and blue stripes.

"He was emptying the trash can and he thought the Lucky's bag was a little heavy," said Sgt. John Hirokawa, Sheriff's spokesman. "He opened that up, found the towel and opened that to find the baby.

The newborn was female with a partially attached umbilical cord.

There are no visible signs of trauma or birthmarks that can be determined at this point, Hirokawa said.

The newborn appeared to be full term and the cause of death has yet to be determined by the coroner's office.

Preliminary results from the autopsy performed Friday afternoon show the child was not stillborn and that the baby died anywhere between 24 and 48 hours old.

"We don't know the cause of death," Hirokawa said. "We just know it was born alive so we are treating it as a homicide. But you also have to take into consideration that it could have died of natural causes as well."

The sheriff's office is seeking help from the public in identifying the parents of the newborn baby. So far, no witnesses have come forward.

"We need the help of the public on this," Hirokawa said. "We need somebody to come forward."

Anyone with information can call Sgts. Earl Pennington or Dave Tomlinson at 299-2211 or after hours at 299-2674.

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