Police have arrested a Las Cruces woman suspected of giving birth to baby girl Saturday evening in a portable toilet at Burn Lake and then disposing the newborn in the holding tank.
Sonia Cristal Jimenez, 38, is charged with one felony count of intentional child abuse resulting in death. The charge is a first-degree felony.
About 10:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026, staff at Memorial Medical Center notified police that Jimenez arrived at the hospital and appeared to have just delivered a baby, but the baby was not with her.
Police learned that Jimenez’s boyfriend, who took Jimenez to the hospital, mentioned they were previously at Burn Lake and Jimenez had used a portable toilet.
Las Cruces police officers responded to Burn Lake, off Burn Lake Road, and located the newborn in the holding tank of a portable toilet. The newborn baby girl was deceased.
Las Cruces firefighters recovered the lifeless baby from the holding tank.
Investigators believe Jimenez gave birth to a live baby, cut the umbilical cord and placed the child in the holding tank where she drowned.
An autopsy conducted Monday at the New Mexico medical investigator’s office in Albuquerque revealed that the baby was alive when she was dropped into the portable toilet. The autopsy showed that she breathed and swallowed the blue chemical liquid commonly used in portable restroom sanitation. The blue chemical was found in the baby’s trachea, lungs and stomach confirming that she breathed and swallowed the liquid while alive.
Investigators believe Jimenez’s boyfriend was unaware she had given birth. No charges against him are anticipated.
LCPD investigators obtained a warrant for the arrest of Jimenez. She was taken into custody Wednesday morning and booked into the Dona Ana County Detention Center where she is initially being held without bond.
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