Mother who trashed newborn son is charged

A Bronx woman who allegedly dumped her 2-week-old son Anthony in a trash bin in Queens before telling police the child was abducted was arraigned on Tuesday, January 9 and now faces 25 years to life in prison.
Lucila Rojas, 25, has been charged with second-degree murder, tampering with physical evidence, endangering the welfare of a child, and violating the Public Health Law for failing to provide a decent burial and disposing of a body without a permit.
On January 8, Rojas allegedly reported that Anthony had been kidnapped, saying he was taken while she was going Jacobi Hospital, located in the Bronx, for an appointment.
After allegedly changing her story multiple times when speaking with investigators, Rojas reportedly admitted that she had actually left the boy, who was born prematurely, in Queens in the trash.
It is alleged that, after leaving the hospital on December 31 after picking up the baby, Rojas got on an MTA bus with her son and allegedly placed a blue blanket over his face to smother him. Exiting the bus which went from the Bronx to Jackson Heights, she allegedly put Anthony in the trash near 100th Street and Northern Boulevard.
&#8220The defendant's alleged suffocation of her innocent and helpless child was both heartless and heartbreaking - particularly when one considers that the child, who had been born prematurely, was given the best medical care in the world in order to have the opportunity of a full and rewarding life,” said Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown.
According to media reports, Rojas has allegedly said that the pregnancy was a result of being raped while in Mexico. She told her husband Carlos Vidal about the alleged assault when the rapist threatened to kill the couple's three-year-old daughter Stephanie.
Queens Homicide detectives are now searching two Pennsylvania landfills for Anthony Rojas.
During an arraignment hearing at the Queens Criminal Court on Tuesday, January 9, Rojas was ordered held without bail. Her next court appearance will be January 24.