Investigation Underway for Dead Newborn Baby Found in South El Monte

The body was found about 3:10 p.m. Thursday in the 2600 block of Chico Avenue, said Deputy Peter Gomez of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Headquarters Bureau.

Witnesses said the remains were inside a trash bin, according to reports from the scene.

A woman who went to the hospital bleeding profusely broke down and told doctors she had just had a baby and discarded it in the trash in front of her apartment, ABC7 reported.

"We're trying to figure out several things: how the infant died, if there's any criminal intent on anybody's part, how the infant was placed there, if there's any connection to this home, to whichever parents and who may or may not be culpable depending on the circumstances that we learn after the autopsy," Sheriff's Lt. Jeff Leslie told Channel 7 at the scene.

Sheriff's Homicide Bureau detectives and the Los Angeles County coroner's office were investigating the death, Gomez said.

Under Los Angeles County's Safe Surrender program, which was enacted in 2001, a parent or legal guardian can hand over an infant three days of age or younger at any hospital emergency room or fire station in the county without fear of arrest or prosecution, as long as the baby has not been abused or neglected.

Information on the program is available on the 24-hour hotline, (877) BABY-SAFE. Safe surrender sites can be obtained by calling the county helpline number -- 211 -- or via the website www.babysafela.org .