A newborn baby was killed after her mother allegedly abandoned her in the chemical tank of a portable toilet in New Mexico moments after giving birth, prosecutors said.

Sonia Jimenez was arrested Wednesday and charged with one felony count of intentional child abuse resulting in death, according to a statement by the Las Cruces Police Department.

The 38-year-old walked into Memorial Medical Center around 10:30pm on February 7 and appeared to medical staff to have just given birth, but had no baby with her, officials said.

Hospital staff told police that Jimenez’s boyfriend said she brought her to the hospital after they were together at Burn Lake, where she used a porta potty – a practically dried-up lake about six miles from the medical center.

Unfortunately, officers searched the mobile toilet and found the little girl dead inside the holding tank.

Officials believe Jimenez gave birth to the baby, cut the umbilical cord, and placed the newborn in the tank where she drowned.

‘This is one of the most heartbreaking and disturbing cases I have encountered in my career,’ Las Cruces police Chief Jeremy Story wrote in an email to the Santa Fe New Mexican.

‘We will work closely with the district attorney’s office to pursue justice for this baby girl.’

Sonia Jimenez was arrested on Wednesday and charged with one felony count of intentional child abuse resulting in death, after she allegedly abandoned her newborn inside the chemical tank of a portapotty in New Mexico

Officers searched the mobile toilet and found the little girl dead inside the holding tank (Mobile toilets at Burn Lake) 

An autopsy was performed on February 9 that found the baby was alive when she was dropped into the portapotty.

Medical investigators also discovered that the child inhaled and swallowed the blue chemical liquid commonly used in portable restroom sanitation.

‘The blue chemical was found in the baby’s trachea, lungs and stomach confirming that she breathed and swallowed the liquid while alive,’ noted the statement.

Jimenez was booked into the Dona Ana County Detention Center, where she is initially being held without bond.

No charges are anticipated to be pressed against her boyfriend as officials believe he was unaware she had given birth.

A national nonprofit reported 31 babies across the country were abandoned in dumpsters, backpacks, and other dangerous locations in 2021, cited by The New Mexican.

Of those newborns, twenty-two were found dead.

Medical investigators discovered that the child inhaled and swallowed the blue chemical liquid commonly used in portable restroom sanitation. Jimenez gave birth to the baby, cut the umbilical cord, and placed the newborn in the tank where she drowned, said officials 

‘This is one of the most heartbreaking and disturbing cases I have encountered in my career,’ Las Cruces police Chief Jeremy Story wrote in an email to the Santa Fe New Mexican 

A similar tragedy took place in October of 2024 when a newborn baby girl with her umbilical cord still attached was found dead outside of a New York City apartment.

Police were called to the rear courtyard of 1150 St. Lawrence Ave in the Bronx around 11.15am on October 23 after a building worker made the gruesome discovery.

The infant was unconscious and unresponsive with the umbilical cord still attached. After attempting to provide aid, EMS pronounced the girl dead at the scene.