A New Bedford woman has been charged with improper disposal of a body, according to the Bristol County District Attorney's Office. 22-year-old Daniela Michell Escobar-Mejia is accused of leaving her infant son's body at Fort Taber Park last year. The announcement following her court appearance yesterday outlined being granted release on personal recognizance, with the stipulation that she must follow Department of Children and Families orders pending trial, as per MassLive.
The case unfolded on December 9, 2023, when a woman, accompanied by her niece, discovered a blanket near a thicket of bushes at the park, from which she "detected an order of decay," according to MassLive. Found inside a blanket was a plastic bag containing the decomposing remains of an infant. A man walking his dog in the park, who was one of two men the woman called out to in distress, called 911. The surveillance footage and DNA analysis later identified Escobar-Mejia as the mother, as reported by NBC Boston.
Escobar-Mejia is slated to return to court for a pretrial conference on September 12, 2024. While the medical examiner's office has yet to determine the cause and manner of death due to the state of decomposition, the infant's body is believed to have been left in the park on November 6, 2023, left undiscovered for over a month. "I want to thank investigators for their efforts in this very sad and tragic case," District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III said in a statement obtained by NBC Boston.
Following the incident, local advocates have emphasized the importance of Massachusetts' safe haven law, which allows parents to legally leave newborns at designated safe places, like hospitals, without facing legal repercussions. The hope is to prevent future tragedies similar to this case from occurring. Escobar-Mejia's release pending the trial has been conditioned, as the Department of Children and Families orders she must abide by while her case is pending, as she was released on personal recognizance.
