LAPD: Baby buried alive was born to mother who hid pregnancy

LOS ANGELES -- The 33-year-old woman whose buried baby was found alive near a Southern California bike path had been hiding her pregnancy and did not want to deliver, Los Angeles Police Department Sgt. Richard Ruiz of the Special Victims Bureau said at a press conference Monday.

The woman, identified as Porche Laronda Washington, delivered on Nov. 26 and the baby was found the following day at 24-48 hours old, Ruiz said.

She had been hiding her pregnancy and "She did not want people to know she was pregnant," he said, adding that she had been successfully concealing her condition.

Los Angeles' safe haven law requires that an unwanted baby be dropped off at a firehouse or a hospital within three days of delivery.

Washington, however, was to be arraigned this afternoon and would be charged with attempted murder and child abandonment, Ruiz said.

He said her arrest last week took place in a Compton home without incident and that people who knew Washington helped lead police to her after authorities had identified the suspect through the hospital where she delivered.

Around 4 p.m. on Nov. 27, deputies were sent to an area between 136th Street and Slater Avenue in Compton, Los Angeles, for reports of a baby crying in the riverbed, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Sgt. Marvin Jaramilla.

Upon their arrival, authorities heard a "baby's muffled cry" and located the infant. A deputy rescued the infant from inside a crevice located along the bike path.

"The baby was wrapped in a blanket and cold to the touch," said Jaramilla in a statement. She was taken to a hospital in stable condition. Police made an arrest in the case on Friday.