NEW YORK (AP) — A newborn tossed down a housing project’s trash chute survived the eight-story fall because he landed on a pile of garbage and the compactor was jammed, investigators said Monday.
A maintenance worker heard a baby boy’s cries coming from the trash compactor Sunday morning. The child was taken to the hospital where he remains in stable condition, said Jerry Schmetterer, spokesman for the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office. He said the baby did not appear to have been injured in the fall.
Laquasia Wright, 18, was arrested on charges of attempted murder and endangering the welfare of a child. Police said it appeared Wright had given birth shortly before tossing the baby. She was also being treated at a hospital on Monday and it was unclear when her arraignment would take place.
A man who answered the phone at Wright’s home declined to comment, and no lawyer information was immediately available.
A large amount of trash had collected in the compactor room over the weekend, which likely cushioned the baby’s landing, police said.
“The garbage probably saved that baby’s life,” said longtime resident Deborah Lewis, 61.
Neighbors said Wright lived with her mother and other relatives in the building. Police said she was hiding the pregnancy.
“It’s a shame because she’s a very sweet child,” Lewis said. “She was probably scared to death.”
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.