Connecticut woman who abandoned 8-month-old baby, attacked child's mother sentenced to 3 years of probation

A Connecticut woman who abandoned an 8-month-old girl in a dumpster after assaulting the child's mother has been sentenced to three years of probation, according to court officials. Both the baby and her mother survived.

Andiana Velez, 26, was sentenced Tuesday in state court in New Haven after having pleaded guilty to felony charges of assault and risk of injury to a minor in connection with the events in October 2020. A prosecutor had sought prison time for Velez.

Judge Gerald Harmon also gave her a 10-year suspended prison sentence, meaning she could be sent to prison if she violates probation. She was jailed on bond for 18 months after her arrest but was freed about six months ago when a judge reduced bail to a promise to appear in court, her lawyer said.

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Police said Velez, of Hamden, had cared for the child during a weekend in October 2020. While at a New Haven gas station with the girl and the child's mother, the mother told police Velez attacked her with a knife and drove off with the baby. Police said the mother had minor puncture wounds.

Velez told police it was the child's mother who pulled a knife on her.

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The girl was later found shivering and crying in a dumpster outside a New Haven apartment complex by a local resident, police said. The child also had burns on her hands, officials said.

Velez's lawyer, Paul Carty, said Wednesday that Velez did not cause the baby's burns. He declined to elaborate. He called Velez's sentence "appropriate under the circumstances."

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"She already did 18 months," Carty said. "So it’s not like they patted on her head and sent her out the door."

Prosecutor Stacey Miranda did not immediately return a message seeking comment.