Shocking Incident: Mother Charged with Abandoning Newborn at NYC Subway Station

Authorities in New York City have pressed charges against a woman for allegedly abandoning a newborn at a subway station.

According to police, 30-year-old Assa Diawara from Queens was identified as the woman seen on surveillance footage before purportedly leaving a baby girl, who was discovered alive at Manhattan’s Penn Station on Monday morning.

The New York Police Department reported her arrest early Wednesday on charges of child abandonment and endangerment.

Officials had previously sought public assistance to identify the woman captured on video holding the infant.

The infant was discovered around 9:30 a.m. local time Monday on the stairway leading to the southbound No. 1, 2, and 3 trains at the 34th Street–Penn Station stop, according to police reports. 

Officials were alerted after an anonymous caller reported seeing the baby left unattended on the steps at West 34th Street and 7th Avenue.

When first responders from the FDNY and NYPD arrived, they found the baby wrapped in a blanket, conscious and alert. The baby was then taken to Bellevue Hospital.

Her umbilical cord was still attached, FOX 5 New York reported. 

The identity of the infant’s parents has not yet been publicized.

Per New York’s Safe Haven Law, parents are allowed to legally and safely surrender newborns at hospitals, police precincts, or fire stations without facing criminal charges as long as the child is left in the care of responsible personnel.