The discovery of a dead newborn baby at a motel in Houston led to the father’s arrest this week.
According to a press release from the Houston Police Department, 33-year-old Jamal Edward Robertson was arrested on Thursday and charged with “injury to a child-serious bodily injury in the 177th State District Court,” a few days after the newborn baby was discovered at a local Motel 6.
On Tuesday, August 2, officers with the Houston Police Department, as well as officials from the Houston Fire Department, responded to a call at a Motel 6 at 15101 Katy Freeway at around 3 p.m. local time.
When officers arrived at the location, they discovered an “unresponsive baby boy.” According to the press release, paramedic officials transported the unresponsive baby to the Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus. The baby was pronounced dead at the hospital, police said.
Police did not release the name of the deceased baby boy but said that he was just 1 month old.
Following the death of the baby, police launched an investigation into the incident and discovered injuries on the child’s body. “Robertson, the child’s father, was detained and subsequently charged in the incident,” the press release said.
According to the Houston Police Department, the baby’s cause of death is still under investigation.
“The investigation is continuing with additional charges possible,” the police department said.
According to KTRK-TV in Houston, when the baby was first discovered at the hotel on Tuesday, law enforcement officials took one person into custody.
After reaching out to the Houston Police Department, Newsweek was directed to the Harris County District Attorney’s Office. Newsweek reached out to the district attorney’s office for comment.
Earlier this year, Houston police officers launched an investigation after discovering a dead premature baby at an apartment complex located at 1210 El Camino Village Drive.
In a press release on June 24, the Houston Police Department said that officers were dispatched to the scene for “a report of a possible abandoned infant found in an apartment complex parking lot.”
“The premature infant was reportedly alive at the time, but was pronounced deceased shortly after paramedics arrived,” the press release said. “The infant was found to be an extremely premature baby delivered by a young teen afraid to inform her family she was pregnant. The girl initially stated she found the baby to get him to a hospital. However, she later admitted the baby was her child.”
In March, a newborn baby was found dead in a bag placed on the side of a road in Memphis, Tennessee, according to police. In January, a newborn baby was found dead inside a duffel bag by a group of Chicago firefighters shoveling snow, according to multiple reports.