Fort Worth police have charged 23-year-old Avia Lynette Cantrell with capital murder after, according to arrest affidavits, she gave birth in a motel bathtub last Wednesday and left her newborn daughter face down in the water for roughly 30 minutes. The infant’s body was found in a dumpster outside the motel Sunday night. Her boyfriend, 26-year-old Camron Kyjuan Baker, is charged with abuse of a corpse; investigators say the couple kept the body in a bag near the toilet for four days before it was discarded. Cantrell is being held on $2 million bond and Baker on $250,000.
The case has renewed attention on Texas’ Baby Moses Law, which allows a parent to surrender an unharmed newborn at a hospital, fire station, or EMS location without facing prosecution for abandonment. The Fort Worth police chief called the case heartbreaking and urged the public to remember that safe options exist. Florida has its own safe haven law with similar protections, and Suncoast hospitals and fire stations serve as designated surrender locations for parents in crisis.
For anyone on the Suncoast who is pregnant and scared, or who knows someone who is, help is free and confidential. Crisis pregnancy centers, hospital social workers, and the national maternal mental health hotline can connect you with options, including safe surrender. The point of these laws is simple: no parent should reach a moment of desperation without knowing a safe door is open.
Have you ever needed a crisis resource and not known where to turn? Share your experience in the comments, it might help a neighbor.
