Newborn baby found abandoned near hiking trail in Texas

A man abandoned a newborn baby girl near a Texas walking trail on a hot Saturday morning, officials said.

The baby was “freshly born this morning,” police said at a press conference. She was found in Katy, about 30 miles west of Houston, around 9 a.m. by a couple out for a walk with their child and dogs. The newborn was wrapped in a towel.

The couple who spotted the baby had gone out early to try to avoid the heat, Daniela Fedele told CBS News affiliate KHOU. Their 3-year-old daughter was riding her bike toward the newborn when they noticed the baby wrapped in a towel.

“I noticed two little feet moving, and then my husband was right behind me with the dogs, and I screamed to my husband. I was like 'oh my god, a baby, a baby,'” said Fedele to KHOU. “And then my husband said, ‘Call 911, call 911,’ and that’s what we did.”

The newborn baby girl was born prematurely and her umbilical cord was still attached, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said on social media. She was taken to hospital for treatment and her condition was described as stable.

“The child hasn't been exposed to these elements, which are very hot right now, in a long time,” said Sgt. » declared Juan Garcia during a press conference.

Fedele told KHOU she doesn't understand why anyone would abandon a baby.

“This image came to my mind so many times, and it's like, how can you do that? I was shocked, I was angry, I was upset,” Fedele said.

Gonzalez said the man who allegedly left the baby on a bridge at a hiking trailhead in Katy was young. He is described as thin, with a fair complexion and black hair. The man was wearing a black shirt and may have been wearing gray pants.

The man who abandoned the newborn could be charged with abandonment and child endangerment, police said. Texas has a safe haven law that allows people to leave a child unharmed without fear of prosecution for abandonment.