Teenage mom's haunting question as she allegedly handed baby over to stranger before being arrested
A woman has opened up about the surreal moment a young mother reportedly tried to give her her baby.
On September 13, Jennifer Benavides was stood at a bus stop in San Antonio, Texas, when she was approached by 18-year-old Karla Ibarra.
Initially, Ibarra asked if she could use Benavides cellphone, then she allegedly handed her one-month-old baby to the stranger.
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Chatting to Ibarra at the time, Benavides said the infant was 'beautiful'. The teen mom allegedly said: "Well, do you want him? I’m going to give him away. I’m going to give him to somebody."
According to Benavides, Ibarra then handed over the baby's birth certificate, his Medicaid, and his Social Security card.
Recalling the surreal situation to KSAT 12, Benavides said her friend lived nearby to the place she first met Ibarra and they went to her house to try hatch a plan on what to do about the teenager and her newborn son.
It then became clear that Ibarra was determined to give her baby away as, after going to Benavides' friend's house, the 18-year-old allegedly left in an Uber – leaving her baby behind.
After Ibarra appeared to have fled the scene, Benavides and her friend called the authorities. While the baby was in her care, Benavides and her friend fed and changed the little boy's diaper.
Child Protective Services then stepped in and placed the newborn baby in the care of one of Ibarra's relatives. Meanwhile, Ibarra was arrested after she returned to the bus stop she'd reportedly tried to give her son to Benavides.
According to the San Antonio Express, Ibarra has been charged with abandoning and endangering a child with intent to return and a judge has set her bail at $7,000.
Benavides says she's happy that she was the person who was able to help the little boy, but called the whole ordeal 'upsetting'.
"God just put me at the right place and the right time," Benavides told KSAT 12. "It’s upsetting to know that even with all the resources that we have out there that someone would do this."
The state of Texas has something called the Safe Haven Law (also known as the Baby Moses Law).
The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services says of the legislation, which was introduced in 1999: "The law aims to prevent infant deaths by offering parents the option to leave their unharmed newborn at a designated Safe Haven location."
"It provides a compassionate, safe, anonymous, and legal alternative to infant abandonment," it adds.
For a parent to surrender their child, the infant must be 60 days or younger and they have to be surrendered at a Designated Emergency Infant Care (DEIC) location such as a fire station, EMS station, or hospital.
If you have questions about the Safe Haven Law, you can call the hotline on (800) 392-3352 or chat to someone via the Baby Moses Hotline website.
Niamh Shackleton