A woman has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder in the death of her newborn baby, whose remains were found in a dumpster nearly 40 years ago.
Melissa Jean Allen Avila, now 55, was identified as the child’s mother through DNA evidence and the help of the nonprofit organization Season of Justice. Avila was 19 years old at the time of the incident.
The baby’s body was discovered in 1987 by a man searching through dumpsters behind a business in Riverside, California. The coroner’s office ruled the death a homicide, but the case went cold until the Riverside Police Department’s Homicide Cold Case Unit reopened it in 2020.
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Avila was located and arrested in North Carolinan then extradited to Riverside County, where she is currently being held on $1,100,000 bail.
The police have no reason to believe the baby’s father was involved in the crime. No further details about the manner of death have been released.
The Riverside Police Department reminded the public about California’s Safe Arms for Newborns law, which allows parents to surrender newborns without prosecution safely.
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