Queens mom arrested, allegedly admits to leaving newborn at NYC subway station

"A Queens woman suspected of being the mom who abandoned her newborn at a Manhattan subway station was arrested and charged Wednesday, police said. Assa Diawara, 30, allegedly admitted to abandoning her newborn - with her umbilical cord still attached - at the 34th Street-Penn Station stop in Midtown Monday morning, sources told The Post. Diawara was arrested near her home in Jamaica around 3 a.m. Wednesday and charged with abandonment of a child and endangering the welfare of a child."

"The arrest came a day after the NYPD released video of the suspect walking down the sidewalk holding a cloth-wrapped bundle in her arms near the subway station shortly after 9 a.m. Monday. The baby was left on the floor in a bundle of blankets on the 1 train platform, police said. Diawara was picked up by a driver near West 34th Street around 9:22 a.m. - minutes before the abandoned infant was reported to police - and was driven back to Jamaica, sources said."

"The baby, who was conscious and alert, was taken by police in a cruiser to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition. Diawara was arrested after neighbors confirmed that a resident of one apartment building appeared to be the woman in the NYPD appeal, sources said. She confessed to birthing the baby girl and leaving her at the train station, police sources said."

Assa Diawara, 30, was arrested near her Jamaica home and charged with abandonment and endangering the welfare of a child. She allegedly admitted to giving birth and leaving a newborn girl at the 34th Street-Penn Station platform with the umbilical cord still attached. Surveillance footage showed a woman carrying a cloth-wrapped bundle near the station shortly before the infant was found. The baby was conscious and alert and transported to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition. Neighbors identified a resident matching the surveillance images, prompting the arrest. New York law allows anonymous, nonprosecutable surrender of infants under 30 days only at designated locations.

Read at New York Post