WASATCH COUNTY, Utah — A young mother was arrested over the weekend after a lengthy investigation ended with police concluding that she killed her newborn baby by depriving him of medical oxygen.
According to court documents, 18-year-old Estrella Meza-Ojeda gave birth to a premature baby boy on Aug. 6. He spent 22 days in the newborn intensive care unit before being sent home with Meza-Ojeda, who lived in a Wasatch County apartment with a roommate.
Police said Meza-Ojeda was given oxygen tanks and an oxygen monitor for her newborn and was told he needed supplemental oxygen to stay alive.
After just four days, on Sep. 1, another tenant of the apartment building called 9-1-1 to report that the baby wasn't breathing. He was taken to the hospital by an ambulance, and medical staff said Meza-Ojeda and the baby arrived without the supplemental oxygen. She was then given more tanks and reminded that the oxygen was vital for the child's survival.
"It is now believed that this time that this was an attempt to end [the baby]'s life and that Estrella was either interrupted or could not go through with it at this time," investigators with Heber City Police wrote in the arrest report.
Then on Sep. 11, police were called to perform a welfare check on the child because Meza-Ojeda didn't bring him in for a follow-up appointment. They were unable to find her, so they called her phone number and left messages when she did not answer.
On Sep. 14, police responded to Meza-Ojeda's apartment again after receiving a child abuse and neglect report, which said she was not putting her son on oxygen. Her roommate told police she hadn't seen Meza-Ojeda since Sep. 11 when the roommate left for work. She said when she returned, Meza-Ojeda and the baby were gone, along with all the baby's clothes. However, the baby's car seat and oxygen tanks were still there.
The roommate told police that she noticed the baby wasn't on oxygen on Sep. 10 and asked Meza-Ojeda about it. Meza-Ojeda told the roommate that the baby no longer needed the oxygen, which "directly conflicts with what the doctors said," according to the report. She also said the baby wasn't sleeping well the previous two nights.
After that, an "extensive search" for the mom and newborn began. An agent with the Utah Division of Child and Family Services managed to make contact with Meza-Ojeda, who claimed the baby boy was in Mexico.
Then last Tuesday, police found Meza-Ojeda at her new boyfriend's home in Kamas. She would not answer any questions about the baby, and asked the officers to not mention the baby when her boyfriend arrived because he did not know about the birth.
Investigators said they interviewed Meza-Ojeda after informing her of her Miranda rights. She said it was difficult caring for a newborn with such specialized needs and she wanted to return to work, so she arranged to have the baby taken to Mexico by a family friend. When detectives asked her why the boy's oxygen tanks and car seat were still at her apartment, she said the man bought a new seat and new oxygen tanks. They asked her how he managed to do so because they usually require a prescription, and she said she didn't know.
Meza-Ojeda then declined to give a phone number for the man who she claimed took the baby to Mexico. She gave a phone number for her mother who lives in Mexico, but the number did not work. She could not provide an exact address for her mother to be contacted by police to verify the child's status.
Police said Meza-Ojeda also changed her story about where and when she met up with the man to hand over her newborn. She could not provide contact information for anyone who could corroborate her story, but she claimed the baby was doing well and was being treated in Mexico City. Police said she could not provide a consistent or accurate account of the location or time related to the baby's alleged transportation to Mexico.
Police obtained a search warrant on Wednesday for Meza-Ojeda's smartphone. On it, they said they discovered search engine histories such as "how much time will I serve in prison for killing my baby," "taking a baby's life," "holy death," Kamas sewage treatment plant," "Salt Lake solid waste," and "garbage dumps near me." They said these searches began on Sep. 3, which was just two days after the baby was taken to the hospital after he stopped breathing.
Wednesday night, police served search warrants on both the apartment where Meza-Ojeda lived with a roommate and her new boyfriend's residence. She and her boyfriend were detained and taken to the Wasatch County Jail.
Investigators questioned Meza-Ojedae again, and at first she began telling the same story. However, the arrest report says she later "began agreeing with [the sergeant] that [the baby] was no longer alive."
Meza-Ojeda then told police that on Sep. 10, she borrowed her roommate's car to meet a man at the Park City Smith's grocery store, which is about a 15-minute drive from her apartment. She said she took the baby with her, but did not place the oxygen tube on him because it was bothering him. She said when she arrived, she thought the baby was asleep. The person she went to meet with did not show up, so she returned home. She said she was taking the baby out of the car when she realized that he was dead.
She confessed to police that she drove toward Salt Lake City and left the baby's body on the side of the road. She could not name or describe exactly where she did so, but she agreed to show the investigators to the location.
They arrived where she told them, at I-80 Exit 131 in Parleys Canyon, where there are large crosses on the hill south of the freeway, the arrest report states. She said she left her newborn's body in a gray blanket with elephants on it. Officers were unable to find the boy's body, but then they asked Meza-Ojeda to walk with them in the area. They found a piece of fabric on the ground, and although it was not stated whether it matched the description of the blanket she used, the report says Meza-Ojeda "began to sob and try to go to the area" after she saw the fabric.
Police were unable to find the infant's body after finding the fabric and called the initial search off due to a lack of lighting, as well as "the possibility of animal activity in the area disturbing or removing [the baby]'s body."
When police filed the arrest report Saturday, it said they were planning to "establish a search plan with cadaver dogs and more officers." FOX 13 News has reached out to the law enforcement agencies involved in the case, but we have not yet received an update on the status of the search.
Meza-Ojeda was booked facing charges of aggravated murder, abuse or desecration of a body, and obstructing justice. She is being held without bail.
