On the afternoon of Thursday, September 5, 2013, medical personnel at a local San Gabriel Valley hospital were confronted with an unsettling medical emergency when a woman walked into the healthcare facility bleeding heavily. As doctors and nurses rushed to provide her with urgent medical care, the woman broke down and revealed a distressing confession. She told hospital staff that she had recently given birth outside medical supervision and had discarded her newborn infant outside her home. Hospital workers immediately alerted law enforcement to the unfolding situation, prompting deputies and detectives to rush to the mother's residence.
Deputies from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and personnel from the Los Angeles County Fire Department were dispatched around 3:00 p.m. to an apartment property in the 2600 block of Chico Avenue in South El Monte. Searching the exterior of the property at 2611 Chico Avenue, first responders made the tragic discovery of a deceased newborn boy discarded inside a trash bin. Fire department paramedics examined the infant and officially pronounced him dead at the scene. The coroner's office later identified the infant in public records as Angel Norberto Navarro, a Latino male whose age was listed as zero days.
Investigators cordoned off the area around Chico Avenue, a neighborhood characterized by a mixture of small residential properties, multifamily duplexes, and light industrial facilities nestled near the Pomona and San Gabriel River freeways. Forensic personnel and homicide investigators combed through the outdoor trash container and documented the surrounding premises into Friday. The Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner took custody of the infant's body to conduct an autopsy to determine whether Angel was born alive, his manner of death, and whether his death resulted from trauma, exposure, or medical distress. In county records, his cause of death was categorized under "other," while full autopsy findings remained closely held by authorities.
Sheriff's officials stated that their primary goal was to uncover the sequence of events leading to the infant's death and to evaluate the mother's mental and physical condition. Detectives sought to determine whether criminal intent was involved and if any other individuals played a role in the abandonment. Sheriff's Lt. Jeff Leslie stated that investigators were examining whether any criminal intent existed, how the newborn had been placed in the trash container, and who was ultimately culpable. The mother, whose identity was not publicly released, was hospitalized for medical treatment and was not immediately arrested while investigators awaited the final autopsy conclusions and consulted with prosecutors.
The discovery sent shockwaves through the community and prompted county leadership to speak out. Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe publicly condemned the tragedy as appalling and urged struggling mothers to utilize California's Safely Surrendered Baby Law. The law provides parents with a safe, confidential, and prosecution-free alternative by allowing them to surrender an infant within three days of birth at any hospital emergency room or Los Angeles County fire station. While county officials noted that the surrender program had preserved over a hundred infant lives since its inception, Angel's death underscored the urgent need to expand multilingual outreach to desperate parents.
In 2013, Los Angeles County recorded hundreds of homicides handled across diverse law enforcement jurisdictions, but deaths involving discarded newborns represented uniquely devastating investigations. More than a decade later, no arrests, criminal filings, or prosecution outcomes have been publicly reported in the death of Angel Norberto Navarro, and the exact circumstances that claimed his life remain an unresolved open case under the jurisdiction of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Homicide Bureau. Investigators have continued to appeal to anyone with details regarding the incident on Chico Avenue to contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Homicide Bureau or provide anonymous tips through Crime Stoppers.
