Overview

• The Phoenix Police Department published video on June 26 capturing officers peering through a window, breaking in and removing the critically emaciated infant.
• Concerned neighbors called for a welfare check after not seeing the mother or baby for days and noticing packages accumulating outside the Central Avenue and Illini Street home.
• The newborn, found “barely clinging to life,” has improved under hospital care and is now expected to survive.
• Detectives, the Department of Child Safety and the Office of the Medical Examiner are investigating the cause of the mother’s death and the circumstances that left the infant alone.
• The incident highlights the power of community vigilance and coordinated emergency response in protecting vulnerable children during extreme summer heat.