Woman Arrested After Baby Found at Subway Station

A Queens woman has been arrested and charged with abandoning her newborn daughter at a major subway station in Manhattan. The NYPD says Assa Diawara, 30, faces counts of child abandonment and endangering the welfare of a child after the infant was discovered Monday morning at the 34th Street-Penn Station subway stop. Authorities say the baby girl, whose umbilical cord was still attached, was found around 9:30am on the floor at the base of a stairwell used to access the No. 1 train platform. The child was taken to Bellevue Hospital, where she was listed in stable condition.

Investigators say surveillance footage showed Diawara getting into a black livery cab in the vicinity of the station, reports the New York Times. Police were able to speak with the driver, who provided a Queens location. Once in the neighborhood, ABC7 reports detectives canvassed the area and found a neighbor who identified Diawara from the surveillance footage. She was subsequently taken into custody, and police say Diawara admitted to giving birth to the infant. CBS News reports that under the state's Abandoned Infant Protection Act, a parent can anonymously abandon a child within the first 30 days after the newborn's birth so long as the infant is left in a "safe haven," like a fire station, police station, or hospital.