At around 10:30 a.m. local time on Wednesday, May 14, the Phoenix Police Department (PPD) received a call from an \u201cobservant neighbor\u201d about a mother in their apartment complex in the area of Central Avenue and Illini Street. According to a police news release, they were informed that the mom, who \u201chad recently given birth to a baby,\u201d hadn\u2019t been heard from for \u201cseveral days.\u201d<\/p>\n
When they arrived at the scene, authorities found an \u201cunlocked window,\u201d from which they spotted the woman lying \u201cmotionless on the floor.\u201d<\/p>\n
The \u201cvisibly emaciated\u201d baby was lying in a nearby bed, per the PPD.<\/p>\n
\u201cOfficers rushed to the front door and forced it open,\u201d Sergeant Brian Bower said in the news release, shared on Friday, June 27. \u201cOfficers swiftly rescued the infant and met with Phoenix Fire [personnel] who took the child to the hospital in serious condition.\u201d<\/p>\n
The baby is now expected to make a \u201cfull recovery\u201d after receiving what police describe as \u201clifesaving care\u201d from a local hospital.<\/p>\n
On Friday, the PPD shared bodycam footage on Facebook of the moment the baby was discovered. Officers can be seen peeking through a window during the welfare check and searching the apartment.<\/p>\n
The baby\u2019s here, dude. And the baby\u2019s still alive,\u201d one officer can be heard saying, as police then proceeded to break open the apartment door and locate the child.<\/p>\n
The baby was lying in the center of a bed when found and wrapped in a blanket. An officer picked the baby up and carried them out of the apartment where they were handed to emergency personnel after an ambulance arrived.<\/p>\n
On Facebook, police reiterated that the child was \u201cexpected to survive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bower has praised the actions of the officers who responded \u201cimmediately\u201d to the scene. \u201cIt\u2019s because of the smart, immediate actions of the officers as well as the neighbors seeing something unusual and calling in for help,\u201d he said, per CBS affiliate KPHO.<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t learned until well after the fact from doctors and staff at the hospital that if the police officers didn\u2019t immediately provide aide and didn\u2019t immediately go into the apartment, the child may not have survived much longer,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Detectives have taken over the ongoing investigation while the medical examiner\u2019s office is looking at the cause and manner of death for the mother, according to the PPD news release. The Department of Child Safety is also assisting investigators and the baby\u2019s family.<\/p>\n