Newborn baby found dead in alleyway after being dropped from 4th floor window shortly after birth

A newborn baby has been found dead in an alleyway after being dropped from a fourth-floor window shortly after being born, according to police.

The baby was found early Thursday morning in the Skid Row neighbourhood of downtown Los Angeles, also home to one of the largest stable homeless populations in the country.

Fire responders received the call at 5:27 a.m. and pronounced the newborn dead at the scene. Police believe the baby was dropped from the building shortly after it had been born.

Investigators located a woman who had been transferred to a nearby hospital for pelvic bleeding a few hours before the baby was discovered. The woman was detained for questioning and released pending further investigation, police said. No other information was immediately available.

The horrific news comes as police are are investigating after the body of a baby girl was found at a southeastern Idaho hospital in a box meant for people to anonymously give up a newborn.

Police officers in Blackfoot, Idaho, about 250 miles east of Boise, responded October 13 to a report of a deceased infant left in the Safe Haven Baby Box at Grove Creek Medical Center, news outlets reported.

Monica Kelsey, the founder of Safe Haven Baby Boxes, said in a social media that hospital staff responded within one minute to an alarm indicating a baby was in the box, which was installed earlier this year. The staff quickly realized that the infant had died before being placed inside.

“We are heartbroken,” Kelsey said. “Anonymity is only allowed when an infant is safely surrendered completely unharmed.”

Idaho law only allows for the surrender of an infant who is unharmed and healthy. The organisation and hospital staff are working with police investigators, officials said. The baby had been wrapped in a blanket, and the placenta was still attached, Kelsey said. Grove Creek Medical Centre officials said in a social media post Monday that staff members “gave their all in a heartbreaking situation.”