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Police say the baby girl was barely 2 hours old. She is in good condition. A 24-year-old woman is arrested.
By CANDACE RONDEAUX, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published August 6, 2002
ST. PETERSBURG -- Rick and Kim Hoover were about to have lunch when they heard a knock on the door. Their elderly neighbor had heard strange noises coming from the city trash can outside his home at 2624 56th Lane N.
"He just thought it was a small animal that got in there, maybe a baby squirrel or something," Mrs. Hoover said. "My husband went over to take a look."
But when Rick Hoover, 39, lifted the lid of the large black bin next to his neighbor's modest one-story ranch home, he could barely believe his eyes.
Inside was a tiny baby girl wrapped in a stained, taupe-colored towel, her umbilical cord still attached.
"He came running back into the house and told me to call 911 and tell them there was a baby in the Dumpster," said Mrs. Hoover, 31.
"We weren't sure if she was breathing, so my husband thought he was going to have to do CPR on her, but then she started whimpering a little. I just keep seeing her little face. That image will be forever burned in my mind."
When police and EMS units arrived on the scene five minutes later, the couple told police they found the baby in the black bin on a heap of garbage under a blistering noonday sun.
Rick Stelljes, a spokesman for the St. Petersburg Police Department, described the infant, dubbed "Baby Doe," as a white female a little more than 2 hours old at the time she was discovered.
They took the girl to nearby St. Petersburg General Hospital minutes after she was found.
She was later taken to All Children's Hospital, where she was reported to be in good condition.
Police have charged a woman identified as the mother of the baby, 24-year-old Stephanie Smith, with attempted first-degree murder. Police questioned Smith about the incident on Monday evening shortly before she underwent surgery at St. Petersburg General.
A woman who answered the phone at Smith's residence said Smith's parents, George and Susan, were unavailable for comment.
As of July 2000, a state law known as the "amnesty law" allows a parent to leave an unwanted newborn less than 3 days old at a hospital, a firehouse or a doctor's office without being charged with a crime. Under that law, the parent may remain anonymous and could lose parental rights.
Under the amnesty law, the Department of Children and Families effectively becomes the guardian in the case of babies abandoned anonymously at the designated locations.
"In this case, the amnesty law will not apply because the baby was left in a Dumpster," Stelljes said.
Neighbors said they were shocked by the news.
"I can't believe someone would do something like this," said Jeanette Miller, who lives nearby on 57th Street N. "I'm just shocked. There are so many people that want families."
Smith lives across from the Hoovers at 2625 56th Lane N. Police said they found traces of blood near another city trash bin next to Smith's house.
Police are questioning neighbors and potential witnesses. They said the mother's motive is still under investigation. She will be taken to the Pinellas County Jail upon her release from the hospital.
-- Times researchers Cathy Wos and Kitty Bennett contributed to this report.
JUNE 1997, TAMPA: A newborn, 12 hours old, is found under a stairwell at Cordelia B. Hunt Recreation Center. The parents were never found, and the baby was later adopted.
DECEMBER 1997, ST. PETERSBURG: A janitor at Northeast High found a newborn in a restroom trash can. A 15-year-old sophomore at Northeast was charged with aggravated child abuse and faced probation.
SEPTEMBER 1998, PLANT CITY: A 16-year-old Plant City high school student placed her newborn in a garbage bag and left it in a shed behind her home. The baby died. It was unclear Monday whether the girl was ever charged.
FEBRUARY 2000, TAMPA: A healthy newborn nicknamed Baby Benjamin was found in a black garbage bag that was placed next to a trash bin at an apartment complex in Egypt Lake. It was unclear Monday whether anyone was ever charged.
MARCH 24, 2000, TAMPA: A newborn was found under a tree on the grounds of Town & Country Hospital. The infant survived. It was unclear Monday whether anyone was ever charged.
-- Compiled by Times researcher Cathy Wos