Queens mom arrested for leaving newborn at NYC subway station
A Queens woman has been arrested and charged for allegedly abandoning her newborn at a Manhattan subway station. Assa Diawara, 30, was taken into custody near her home in Jamaica and charged with abandonment of a child and endangering the welfare of a child. The arrest came after Diawara admitted to leaving her newborn, still with her umbilical cord attached, at the 34th Street-Penn Station stop in Midtown Monday morning.
The NYPD released video footage of the suspect walking down the sidewalk holding a cloth-wrapped bundle near the subway station shortly after 9 a.m. Monday. The baby, left on the ground in a bundle of blankets on the 1 train platform, was discovered during the busy rush-hour commute.
After being picked up by a driver near West 34th Street minutes before the abandoned infant was reported to police, Diawara was driven back to Jamaica. The baby, conscious and alert with her umbilical cord still attached, was taken to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition.
Neighbors identified Diawara as the woman in the NYPD appeal, leading to her arrest. She confessed to birthing the baby girl and leaving her at the train station, according to police sources.
In New York State, the Abandoned Infant Protection Act allows parents to anonymously give up babies under 30 days old without prosecution, as long as the infant is left with an appropriate person or location such as a hospital or staffed firehouse.
