ATHENS, Texas — An East Texas woman is facing felony charges after abandoning her 8-month-old child on the side of the road in Athens.
According to the arrest affidavit, Aliza Perez, 23, was charged with endangering/abandoning a child after leaving her daughter in a stroller by a road on State Highway 19 S. The baby was left outside for approximately 6 hours overnight before the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office received the call of an abandoned child.
"Deputies went to the residence along with EMS personnel, and we were able to make contact with the people living at the house. (They) said that they came outside and saw the stroller in the driveway and her baby crying," said Botie Hillhouse, Henderson County Sheriff.
Perez was trying to buy drugs in the area, the arrest affidavit said.
"She was highly intoxicated and said she needed to go to the hospital. And she was having trouble pushing the stroller. So she left the child on the side of the road and walked to the hospital to get treatment for herself, due to her intoxication level," Hillhouse said.
Perez later turned herself into the police after several people identified her on a social media post with her child's photo as the mother.
Currently, she is in the Henderson County Jail with a bond set at $20,000.
Deputies said the baby was okay and was placed with a family member by CPS.