Woman Who Rescued Abandoned Stockton Baby Says Mom Not Completely To Blame
STOCKTON (CBS13) - She's being called a hero. A Stockton woman saved a baby who police say was abandoned by his mother near a street corner late Thursday night.
"As soon as I was like, 'oh my gosh,' he started crying and he held onto me so I held onto him," said Nicole Ramirez.
The baby's mother is behind bars and the one-year-old is in CPS custody. But Ramirez says it is not all the mother's fault.
Ramirez took us to the spot where she found the abandoned infant.
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"Right next to the tree by the for-lease sign," she said.
Ramirez walked us to the spot back by the fence where the ground is littered with garbage and there isn't a street light around.
"That baby had no light back there at all," she said.
Barely more than one, the baby was sitting in his stroller in the dark, quiet and scared, when Ramirez walked up. It was near a busy Stockton street corner.
"I felt bad for him because he was there for 10-15 minutes, and I took him out and held him -- like 'it's OK, you're not alone, little guy,'" she said.
Police say the child's mom, Reyna Espanola, called police on Friday morning inquiring about the whereabouts of her son. She was eventually arrested for child abandonment, but witnesses say there is more to the story.
RELATED: Mother Arrested After Baby Found Abandoned On Stockton Street
"There was a couple that were fighting," said George Casillas, a witness.
Neighbor George Casillas says a man got physical with Espanola then held the baby under his arm like a football, trying to lure him back. At that point, she took off.
Witnesses say she'd been drinking.
George says he can't even imagine what could have happened if Ramirez had not come along.
"It's a little wild out here at night. There's all kinds of people walking around and some of them are half outta their mind," said Casillas.
Ramirez took the baby inside to safety, changed his diaper and played music until CPS arrived.
"Oh, it hit hard. He's a baby. He was so scared, he was so quiet," she said.
"The girl's a hero. She's a hero, she really is," said Casillas. "She potentially saved that child's life."
Witnesses say the mom came back twice in the middle of the night looking for her baby. By that time, the little boy was long gone and safe.
