Teen mother accused of giving her one-month-old child away to a stranger who said she had a  ‘very beautiful baby’ at a Texas bus stop

A teen mom who allegedly tried to hand her baby over to a stranger at a bus stop in San Antonio, Texas, has been arrested and charged. 18-year-old mother, Karla Ibarra, reportedly gave the baby to a stranger along with the birth certificate, Medicaid, and Social Security card, as she no longer wanted the child.

The incident occurred around 10:45 p.m. on September 13. Ibarra allegedly approached Jennifer Benavides at a bus stop in downtown San Antonio and asked to use her phone, according to reports from Fox San Antonio and KSAT12. 

Benavides said that Ibarra handed her the baby, “Very beautiful baby. Handsome. 1 month old,” the woman recalled. She claimed that Ibarra then asked her if she wanted to take the baby, “So, she’s like, ‘Well, do you want him? I’m going to give him away. I’m going to give him to somebody.’”

She told KSAT12 that Ibarra then proceeded to hand her the baby’s birth certificate, Medicaid, and Social Security card.

Ibarra no longer wanted the baby

According to the San Antonio Police Department, Ibarra had chosen to give the baby away to a stranger because she no longer wanted him.

Upon realizing that the mother was serious, Benavides initially tried to talk her out of it before convincing Ibarra to go to the home of a friend of hers, where the baby was fed and his diaper changed while the police were also called.

Benavides claimed that Ibarra called herself an Uber from the friend’s home and left before the authorities arrived. She had also left her baby behind at the home with Benavides.

Sometime later, while the cops were still present at the property, Ibarra reportedly returned and was quickly placed in cuffs and later charged with abandoning and endangering a child with intent to return, according to Bexar County Court records obtained by the San Antonio Express News. Her bail has been set at $7,000.

The baby was subsequently placed in the care of relatives as confirmed by child protective services. “I can’t take any credit for that. God just put me at the right place and the right time,” Benavides told KSAT12. “It’s upsetting to know that even with all the resources that we have out there that someone would do this.”

Although Ibarra may not have been aware, a law passed in Texas in 1999, known as the Safe Haven or Baby Moses law, aims to protect infants by offering parents the option to leave their unharmed newborn at a designated Safe Haven location; these include fire stations, EMS stations, and hospitals, safely, anonymously, and with no legal repercussions, as long as the child is handed to an employee or placed in a Safe Baby box.

(Featured image: Bexar County Sheriff’s Office, Azoreg, CC BY-SA 3.0. Via Wikimedia Commons.)

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