A newborn baby has been saved from the brink of starvation after their mother died at an Arizona home and nobody was around to take care of them.
Phoenix Police have released harrowing bodycam footage of the moment officers rescued the tiny infant as their mother lay dead beside them.
Cops were called to the apartment close to Central Avenue and Illini Street in Eleven Palms, south Phoenix, at around 11am on May 14 after concerned neighbors dialed 911 saying they hadn’t seen the woman who lived there for several days.
‘Inside the home, they discovered the mother had passed away and her baby was still alive, severely dehydrated and clinging to life,’ police said in a release on Thursday.
‘Officers quickly got the infant help, and the baby was taken to a nearby hospital to recover.
‘The baby was taken to the hospital in critical condition. We are happy to report, the infant’s condition has improved greatly, and they’re expected to survive.’
Phoenix Police did not name the mother or give the gender of the child. Her cause of death has not been disclosed. The Daily Mail has requested more information.
A newborn baby has been saved from the brink of starvation after their mother died at an Arizona home and nobody was around to take care of the infant
Phoenix Police have released harrowing bodycam footage of the moment cops rescued the tiny baby as their mother lay dead beside them
Police bodycam shows cops shouting ‘hello?’ outside the apartment, receiving no response and breaking down the door.
The scene then cuts to a cop uncovering a tiny infant wrapped in blankets on a bed, where police said the mother’s body was also found.
He gently places the baby in a stroller before passing the child to EMT colleagues, who rescued them from the brink of death.
Detectives described the baby ‘visibly emaciated’.
Phoenix Police spokesperson Sgt. Brian Bower also gave more context during an interview with Arizona Family.
Describing the scene, he said: ‘Officers looked through an open window and saw an adult woman who was motionless.
‘The mother had passed away while the child was still on the bed still curled up where the mother had left them.
Cops found the infant wrapped in blankets on a bed, where the mother’s body was also found
Cops were called to the apartment close to Central Avenue and Illini Street in Eleven Palms, south Phoenix, at around 11am on May 14 after concerned neighbors dialed 911
Phoenix Police did not name the mother or give the gender of the child. Her cause of death has not been disclosed. The Daily Mail has requested more information
‘It wasn’t learned until well after the fact from doctors and staff at the hospital that if the police officers didn’t immediately provide aide and didn’t immediately go into the apartment, the child may not have survived much longer,’ he added.
Sergeant Bower praised the actions of the police officers and neighbors who alerted them to the tragedy.
‘It’s because of the smart, immediate actions of the officers as well as the neighbors seeing something unusual and calling in for help,’ he said.
Sergeant Bower said the Department of Child Safety is involved in caring for the baby. Police are still investigating the mother’s cause of death.
