TX - Mother left newborn in dumpster because she didn't want boyfriend to break up with her - July 29, 2024

[MissMalowe]

Anyone remember the story last year of the teen who walked into a restaurant after just giving birth, handed the baby to a customer and left?

Correction: it was 2021 not last year. The baby was placed for adoption and the 14 year old mother faced no charges.

14-year-old gives birth and hands baby to customer at restaurant in Jersey City, New Jersey | abc7chicago.com

A%2014-year-old%20walked%20into%20the%20El%20Patron%20restaurant%20in%20Jersey%20City%20on%20Wednesday%20afternoon%20with%20a%20newborn%2C%20handed%20the%20baby%20to%20a%20customer%20and%20then%20left.

www.abc7chicago.com

A restaurant isn't an official safe haven drop off location, but it was at least a safe alternative with people around to help, which is why I'm guessing she (rightfully, imo) faced no charges.

 

[Knox]

There is no doubt this young woman didn’t do the right thing. But IF she is in this country illegally, doesn’t speak english, has a mental disability, and no support system. IMO, she needs help. Had the boyfriend told her he didn’t want the baby?

Is she here legally? Did she receive any prenatal care? Does she have any family? Who owns the food truck she worked at? Where is the boyfriend?

 

[photoprose1122]

I'm not saying this 18 year-old girl did the right thing, thank God that baby was found so quickly. But some compassion may be in order here, MOO.

ITA. Horrible what happened to the child, but she is also a child with some kind of mental disability alone in a country where she doesn’t speak the language. Add to that a boyfriend who - going by her fear of him breaking up with her - is probably controlling and manipulative and her only source of companionship. She has probably endured trauma of her own. All these factors lead to making crazy decisions in order to survive. I feel sorry for her. I do not excuse what she did, whatsoever, but I do feel sorry for her.

 

[Goecke]

Texas ranks #2 in the US for highest population of Spanish speakers and in Houston specifically, 38% of their population is Spanish speaking. As for the demographics, Houston is mostly Hispanics and Latinos (44% of the population) With those numbers it's difficult to understand how a language barrier would have been a large issue.

Demographics of Houston - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Houston, Texas Population 2024

worldpopulationreview.com

Many people in rural Guatemala speak indigenous languages, not Spanish. According to this, only 54% of the population are native Spanish speakers. Languages of Guatemala - Wikipedia
I'm not sure if it's been mentioned anywhere what language(s) she speaks. If there's a source that mentions she speaks Spanish, then yes, the language barrier may not have been as big of an issue. We also don't know if she's literate in any language, given her disability and the fact that the literacy rate for women in Guatemala is 76%, and only 39% for indigenous women. Given her last name, I'd bet she has at least some indigenous ancestry.

 

[georgiajean]

Many people in rural Guatemala speak indigenous languages, not Spanish. According to this, only 54% of the population are native Spanish speakers. Languages of Guatemala - Wikipedia
I'm not sure if it's been mentioned anywhere what language(s) she speaks. If there's a source that mentions she speaks Spanish, then yes, the language barrier may not have been as big of an issue. We also don't know if she's literate in any language, given her disability and the fact that the literacy rate for women in Guatemala is 76%, and only 39% for indigenous women. Given her last name, I'd bet she has at least some indigenous ancestry.

I did some investigation off of your info here.
The surname Ajtzalam is found in two areas in Guatemala. Sololá Department (areas in Guatemala are called "departments") and Quiché Department. The surname Cux is found in 3 areas, the Solola, Quiche, and Quetzaltenango Dept. The languages spoken in these departments are Mayan, and the populations are primarily Mayan.

Solola Dept.
"As of 2018, the department had a population of 421,583.[1] The area is populated almost entirely by different Mayan ethnic groups, of which the two largest groups are the Kaqchikel people and K'iche'.[2][3] Kaqchikel people accounted for 50.1%[3] of the department's population, and K'iche' accounted for 35.3%.[3] Indigenous people in total account for 96.5% of the department's population.[3]" Sololá Department - Wikipedia Two Mayan languages are the main langauges in this area.

Quiche Dept.
"While most of its indigenous population speaks the Kʼicheʼ (Quiché) language, other Mayan languages spoken in the department are Ixil (Nebaj - Chajul - Cotzal area), Uspantek (Uspantán area), Sakapultek (Sacapulas area), as well as Poqomchiʼ and Q'eqchi' in the northeast, bordering the Alta Verapaz department.[3]" Quiché Department - Wikipedia

Quetzaltenango Dept has the capital city and has sprinklings of all the Indigenous groups and langauges.

I think it is worth noting that this young woman was able to communicate with the authorities, so she knows some language (unless the authorities used an app to translate). I would think, if she knew zero Spanish or English, that would have been noted? She was working in a Guatemalan food truck, so was around people she could communicate with, I would guess?

 

[Knox]

187798101010 - The State of Texas vs. CUX-AJTZALAM, EVERILDA (Court 482)

187798101010 - The State of Texas vs. CUX-AJTZALAM, EVERILDA <wbr>(Court&nbsp;482)​

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Case Summary​

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Case (Cause) Summary
Case	187798101010 - 3
File Date	7/24/2024
Case (Cause) Status	Active - CRIMINAL
Offense	ABANDON CHILD W/O INT RETURN
Last Instrument Filed	Complaint
Case Disposition
Case Completion Date	N/A
Defendant Status	JAIL
Bond Amount	$200,000.00
Next/Last Setting Date	8/26/2024

Defendant Details
Race/Sex W / F Eyes BRO Skin MBR DOB 4/24/2006 US Citizen Yes	Height/Weight 4'10 / 120 LBS Hair BLK Build LGT In Custody Y (Locate) Place Of Birth
Address
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The Current Presiding Judge
Current Court	482nd
Address	1201 Franklin (Floor: 14) Houston, TX 77002 Phone:8329274040
JudgeName	Veronica M. Nelson
Court Type	Criminal

Arrest Date	Arrest Location	Booking Date
7/25/2024 3:50:00 PM	6621	7/25/2024 5:35:00 PM

Holds​

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Agency Placing Hold	Agency Name	Warrant Number	Bond Amount	Offense	Hold Placed	Hold Lifted
TXINS0000	IMMIGRATION	A245883030	$0​	IMMIGRATION VIOLATION	7/26/2024​

Office of Harris County District Clerk - Marilyn Burgess | Search Our Records

 

[pukasonqo2]

Even without knowing of a “safe drop off” location, she could have made an educated guess about where to leave them where they’d be found quickly: next to a hospital door, at a fire station, a library, at this point a Walmart lobby or inside a gas station would have been less negligent than literally throwing a baby away. A choice to leave this baby anywhere with any foot traffic would have been better. I don’t think she cared that this child would have likely died. IMO ofc.

Not necessarily, those options are not available in third world countries so she would not know what to look for especially if she doesn’t speak English
My question is, if she knew she was pregnant where was she receiving pre natal care?
And my second one, how was she hiding a pregnancy in this heat? Plus the BF would have noticed the changes in her body…
I am glad the baby survived

 

[Knox]

Should she be able to post that bond, Cux-Ajtzalam would have to wear a GPS monitor and could not have any contact with her newborn son or her boyfriend, according to an amended order for pretrial supervision filed in the case on Monday.

Cux-Ajtzalam is still waiting for the court to appoint a public defender for her case, saying in her financial affidavit that she makes a monthly salary of just $500 and has only been in the country for 14 months.

Texas Teen Put Baby In Dumpster After Giving Birth Outside Work: Cops

Everilda Cux-Ajtzalam, 18, allegedly told police that she then put the "child, placenta, and umbilical cord into a trash bag, took the trash bag to a dumpster, and left the child in the dumpster tied inside the trash bag," accoridng to a court order

www.insideedition.com

Everilda's DOB is 4/2006, so if she has been in the US for 14 months - she entered as a unaccompanied minor (17).
Curious how old the boyfriend is and if that is who she came into the US with? Earnings of $500/month, to me means she was under the control of someone else, finacially speaking. She's not going to be able to live on that amount of money on her own, clearly. All just MOO.

 

[seasideForest]

I'm interested to see in the Case Summary that she's listed as a US citizen. So that would suggest she is NOT an undocumented migrant. MOO

 

[Knox]

Not necessarily, those options are not available in third world countries so she would not know what to look for especially if she doesn’t speak English
My question is, if she knew she was pregnant where was she receiving pre natal care?
And my second one, how was she hiding a pregnancy in this heat? Plus the BF would have noticed the changes in her body…
I am glad the baby survived

Was she trying to hide her pregnancy? I haven't seen that stated?

 

[pukasonqo2]

Was she trying to hide her pregnancy? I haven't seen that stated?

I am making the assumption that she was based on her saying that she didn’t want the BF to know she was pregnant

 

[georgiajean]

Should she be able to post that bond, Cux-Ajtzalam would have to wear a GPS monitor and could not have any contact with her newborn son or her boyfriend, according to an amended order for pretrial supervision filed in the case on Monday.

Cux-Ajtzalam is still waiting for the court to appoint a public defender for her case, saying in her financial affidavit that she makes a monthly salary of just $500 and has only been in the country for 14 months.

Texas Teen Put Baby In Dumpster After Giving Birth Outside Work: Cops

Everilda Cux-Ajtzalam, 18, allegedly told police that she then put the "child, placenta, and umbilical cord into a trash bag, took the trash bag to a dumpster, and left the child in the dumpster tied inside the trash bag," accoridng to a court order

www.insideedition.com

Everilda's DOB is 4/2006, so if she has been in the US for 14 months - she entered as a unaccompanied minor (17).
Curious how old the boyfriend is and if that is who she came into the US with? Earnings of $500/month, to me means she was under the control of someone else, financially speaking. She's not going to be able to live on that amount of money on her own, clearly. All just MOO.

Thank you for this article. Even if she was eating all of her food out of the food truck, $500 isn't enough. She wouldn't have had much of anything, let alone a cell phone to search options for unwanted pregnancy. That kind of earnings makes me wonder if she was working to pay off debt to someone who brought her into the country from Guatemala. If she worked full time hours, she was getting $3/hour.

If she has been in the country 14 months, that erases my theory that she may have been pregnant from a rape during her migration from Guatemala.

She is tiny, just 4'10". Vulnerable. I want to know who the boyfriend is, and was her concern about him dumping her a valid concern or in her head?

Questions: What language/languages does she speak? Literacy? What is the extent of her mental disability? Who were her connections here? Who is the boyfriend? Who is the father of the child? (not assuming BF and father are the same at this point). And why did the legal paperwork say she is a US citizen while it also has a hold from Immigration?

 

[LoveyG]

I'm interested to see in the Case Summary that she's listed as a US citizen. So that would suggest she is NOT an undocumented migrant. MOO

It also says Immigration Violation though and hold by Immigration.

 

[Proud Country Gal]

I'm not trying to excuse her - abandoning a newborn baby in a dumpster is deplorable - but she's not from the US and so she didn't go to school here and have the opportunity to learn those types of things. Who knows how good her knowledge of English was, too. MOO

There are signs at bus stops and on walls, bus sops, billboards, magazines, etc that are in English and Spanish!!! I spent several months in the area and saw these with my own eyes! If I saw them traveling so did she!

 

[Knox]

Thank you for this article. Even if she was eating all of her food out of the food truck, $500 isn't enough. She wouldn't have had much of anything, let alone a cell phone to search options for unwanted pregnancy. That kind of earnings makes me wonder if she was working to pay off debt to someone who brought her into the country from Guatemala. If she worked full time hours, she was getting $3/hour.

If she has been in the country 14 months, that erases my theory that she may have been pregnant from a rape during her migration from Guatemala.

She is tiny, just 4'10". Vulnerable. I want to know who the boyfriend is, and was her concern about him dumping her a valid concern or in her head?

Questions: What language/languages does she speak? Literacy? What is the extent of her mental disability? Who were her connections here? Who is the boyfriend? Who is the father of the child? (not assuming BF and father are the same at this point). And why did the legal paperwork say she is a US citizen while it also has a hold from Immigration?

His name (BF), actually two male names are listed on her bond condition(s) form.

Like I said, she was/is clearly vulnerable, in that she had to rely on others for basic subsistence. I assume that was her boyfriend, but maybe others as well. Her printed signature in block letters on the various court forms, looks like that of a child.

Cux-Ajtzalam was also previously arrested in 2023 by Customs and Border Protection and has an undisclosed mental disability, according to records obtained by the Houston Chronicle.

The article above is behind a pay wall for me, can anyone else provide details of that arrest?

 

[Knox]

It also says Immigration Violation though and hold by Immigration.

Yes, I think that's obviously an error.

 

[georgiajean]

There are signs at bus stops and on walls, bus sops, billboards, magazines, etc that are in English and Spanish!!! I spent several months in the area and saw these with my own eyes! If I saw them traveling so did she!

To try and make sense of what she did, from my adult brain, I just can't. To dump your newborn like trash, that isn't based on sense, logic, or reason. Therefore, I believe there are other factors involved (so many in the US are drug related, but we have heard nothing about that in this case). I do not assume she spoke English or Spanish (have done a deep dive on Guatemala, and was so surprised to find that a massive percentage of the population is indigenous Mayan, and speak any of the 20-30 Mayan languages). I am not saying that she doesn't deserve to pay for this crime. I do believe this crime may help educate us about the missing pieces for supporting immigrant communities to be aware of and able to access basic resources not available in their home countries.

I put myself in the place of an 18 year old, pregnant, foreign country, no money, already breaking the law, etc. I believe I would have put myself at the mercy of the authorities. But that is me, with all my cognitive facilities and my knowledge. Grateful it turned out okay for the baby, thanks to observant pedestrians.

 

[georgiajean]

His name (BF), actually two male names are listed on her bond condition(s) form.

Like I said, she was/is clearly vulnerable, in that she had to rely on others for basic subsistence. I assume that was her boyfriend, but maybe others as well. Her printed signature in block letters on the various court forms, looks like that of a child.



The article above is behind a pay wall for me, can anyone else provide details of that arrest?

How do you get access to the bond condition forms? I would like to see her signature

 

[Knox]

Found a few more details on the 2023 arrest, that was actually the date of her 17th birthday.

 

[georgiajean]

View attachment 522342

Found a few more details on the 2023 arrest, that was actually the date of her 17th birthday.

Good find!