Abandoned Baby's Teen Mom Arrested

The mother of a toddler who was apparently abandoned in his stroller alone on a city street in Hartford has been arrested.  The mother was arrested Monday and charged with risk of injury to a minor and abandonment of a child younger than 6 years old. 

The girl, 16, was taken into custody after news reports seeking information surfaced over the weekend.  The girl is a student at Hartford High School, according to Police Chief Daryl Roberts. 

The 18-month baby boy was found Saturday.  A woman who lives in the Atwood Apartments found him and called police.  She said she came home and saw the toddler sitting in a stroller in the lobby.  After about an hour, when no one came to claim him, she called police.

The woman who found the boy said the child seemed to be quite healthy and well taken care of, which is why the situation puzzled her.  The boy’s hair was styled in braids and he was wearing a red shirt, and a blue-and-orange fleece.  He was found in a stroller with a diaper bag.

“There does not appear to be a neglect issue here as far as the child’s clothing or how well he was kept,” Hartford Police Lt. Mark Tedeschi told NBC 30’s Debra Alfarone on Sunday.  He added, “The stroller where he was (found) was in good working condition; there was no physical abuse.”

The Police Chief was unable to to say why the mother abandoned the child.  He said the case is still under investigation.

The baby was taken for care by the Connecticut Department of Child and Family Services.

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