A mother was caught on surveillance footage allegedly leaving her infant baby on a busy New York City subway platform. INSIDE EDITION has the details.
Columbus Circle is one of the most popular sites for tourists in New York. It’s where CNN broadcasts from the Time-Warner Center. The Trump International Hotel is also there and about 50,000 people come and go through the subway station at Columbus Circle every day.
So, imagine the shock of finding an adorable 10-month-old baby abandoned right on the subway platform in her red polka-dotted stroller.
The young mom was riding the train with her baby as it pulled into the station at Columbus Circle. The mom pushed the stroller out onto the platform then immediately darted back inside, leaving the stroller. As the subway doors closed, there was the infant, abandoned, alone, helpless.
The mom was identified as 20-year-old Frankea Dabbs. She was caught on surveillance tape entering the subway system wearing a white top and dark sunglasses. In the video, she was seen with the stroller pulling a suitcase behind her.
She told police she arrived in New York on July 2 from Raleigh, North Carolina, and that she could not take care of the baby. She thought she was leaving her in a "safe public place,” which is why she chose busy Columbus Circle.
A Good Samaritan stayed with the baby for 20 minutes until police arrived.
At the Columbus Circle station, one woman told INSIDE EDITION, "I can't even fathom anyone would do something like that."
Another woman said, "There is no reason for it. There are too many people that want children."
The baby was examined and found to be in good condition except for a rash on her face. Dabbs was found 12 hours after allegedly abandoning the baby, wandering the streets, not far from Central Park.
The baby has been placed with children's services in New York.
All 50 states have some form of safe haven law providing a safe place to abandon a child, but in New York that law only applies to children five days old or less.
