A 14-year-old girl who had just given birth was captured on CCTV footage walking into a New Jersey restaurant and then handing her baby girl to a stranger before fleeing the scene some moments later. The incident reportedly happened on May 19.
According to TMZ, the stranger the teen left her baby with was having lunch with her boyfriend at the time the new mother walked in. Per CCTV footage, the unidentified mother is seen entering the restaurant with her newborn baby and approaching the counter. She appears to have a conversation with an employee before she sits on one of the chairs. The stranger, identified as Alease Scott, then walks to the teen to talk to her.
Moments later, the teen hands her newborn daughter over to Scott and she is seen walking back to her seat with the baby girl. The teen sits for a while before walking over to Scott’s table to have a conversation with her. She is then seen leaving the restaurant.
After authorities were called to the restaurant, Scott informed them the teen mother had come to the eatery in search of help, TMZ reported. She said she offered to help check the vital signs of the baby as she has undergone training in CPR and first aid. The baby, who reportedly appeared to be facing difficulties breathing, was later given oxygen and transported to the hospital after first responders arrived. The baby’s umbilical cord was also still attached at the time.
In an interview with The Jersey Journal, Frankie Aguilar, an employee at the restaurant, confirmed the unidentified mother walked into the restaurant with a “brand new newborn child” seeking help.
“She kind of looked a little bit desperate,” Aguilar said, adding that once she handed her baby over to one of their customers, “she just left.”
Though the teen was later identified and tracked by authorities, she initially said she was not the mother of the baby. She was, however, also transported to the same hospital her baby was taken to.
No charges will be brought against the teen mother and her baby will also be put up for adoption.
Per New Jersey’s Safe Haven Infant Protection law, residents can legally and anonymously leave unharmed and unwanted infants who are less than 30 days old with workers at any hospital, police station, fire station, ambulance, first aid or rescue squad, The Jersey Journal reported.
