New Mexico officials have released the 911 call three good Samaritans placed after they found a newborn baby boy abandoned in a dumpster behind a shopping center in Hobbs Friday.
The city’s acting police chief previously praised the three as "pivotal" in saving the child’s life. His mother, Alexis Avila, allegedly threw him into the dumpster at around 2 p.m. Friday.
Around 7:45 p.m., Michael Green, Hector Jasso and April Nuttall arrived to scavenge through the trash. But they heard cries coming from inside a bag and fished it out.
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"We just found a baby in the trash," Green tells the dispatcher, struggling to describe where exactly they made the discovery. "I can’t think straight."
The dispatcher replies that she sees the call is coming from near a residential address right behind the shopping center.
"We just found an infant child in the g--d---- trash," Green says.
The dispatcher asks if the newborn is breathing.
He’s still got his umbilical cord, and he’s freezing cold
"Yes ma’am," Green replies.
During some back-and-forth, with Green facing an adrenaline rush and both of them talking over one another, he reveals that the baby boy is still alive and still has his umbilical cord attached. He’s wrapped in a dirty blanket, and it’s cold outside.
"He is a boy, and he is still alive," Green says. "I believe, he looks pretty good."
The infant had been trapped in a plastic bag inside the dumpster for almost six hours, according to police and timestamps on surveillance video recorded by Rig Outfitters, a home store in the shopping center.
The harrowing video shows the moment Avila allegedly tossed a garbage bag into the dumpster with her baby inside. It also shows Green, Jasso and Nuttall when they found him nearly six hours later, still alive but bound up in two plastic bags and with temperatures at around 36 degrees.
WARNING: GRAPHIC VIDEO
"Is he crying?" the dispatcher asks at another point in the 911 call.
"He’s whimpering," Green replies. "He was not crying actually."
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At one point, he hands the phone over to Jasso, who tells the dispatcher about how they found the child and that his girlfriend, Nuttall, is keeping him warm in his truck.
The dispatcher tells him help is on the way and asks him to go make sure he’s still breathing. A moment later, Nuttall takes the phone.
"He’s still got his umbilical cord, and he’s freezing cold," she tells the dispatcher. "He’s very drained…He’s very, very, very weak."
She tells the dispatcher that she took the baby out of a wet towel and wrapped him in her jacket before getting into the car for warmth. Then she says she sees police arriving and they end the call.
Police rushed the child to a local hospital before he was airlifted to a facility in Lubbock, Texas, authorities said Monday.
He was still there in stable condition Tuesday.
Alexis Avila, 18, is expected to be arraigned Jan. 12 at Lea County District Court in Lovington, New Mexico, after allegedly abandoning her newborn baby in a dumpster. (Hobbs Police)
"Their collective quick response to this emergency, including notification of 911, was absolutely pivotal in saving this baby’s life," Hobbs Acting Police Chief August Fons said during a news briefing Monday.
The mother, 18-year-old Alexis Avila, faces charges of attempted murder and child abuse.
Hobbs police said she admitted to leaving the baby in the dumpster when they interviewed her over the weekend and allege that she only referred to him as "it."
A Children, Youth and Families Department spokesperson said she could not comment on individual cases due to state privacy rules.
The agency is accepting non-monetary donations for the newborn at 907 West Calle Sur in Hobbs, New Mexico.
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More information about becoming a foster parent can be found on the agency's website or by calling 1-800-432-2075.
All 50 states have "safe haven" laws that allow newborns to be dropped off without criminal penalties at designated locations – usually fire or police departments
Fox News’ Sarah Rumpf contributed to this report.
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