HOBBS, NEW MEXICO – A New Mexico teenager will remain in prison after the state Court of Appeals upheld her conviction for throwing her newborn into a dumpster in Hobbs in 2022.
Surveillance video showed Alexis Avila placing her baby in a bag and leaving him in a dumpster behind the Broadmoor Mall. Hours later, people searching through the trash heard crying and found the infant inside the bag, wrapped in a dirty towel. The baby had been in the dumpster for about six hours and showed signs of hypothermia but survived.
According to court documents, Avila was 18 at the time and told investigators she didn’t know she was pregnant until the day before giving birth. She delivered the baby on her bathroom floor, then drove to the shopping center and left him in the dumpster.
Avila was convicted in 2023 of child abuse and attempted murder and sentenced to 16 years in prison. She appealed, arguing jury instructions were flawed and her attorney failed to raise an insanity defense. The Court of Appeals rejected those claims and reaffirmed her conviction.
