The baby’s mother, Carolina Flores, 33, was discovered with multiple stab wounds by a family member in northeast Houston on the morning of Tuesday, Dec. 19.
However, police have now found the baby, apparently unharmed, in an apartment in southwest Houston. She has been taken to “an area hospital as a precaution,” authorities said, according to NY Daily News.
No other details have been released on how police found the baby.
Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo tweeted his happiness that Shamali had been found: “We’re ecstatic Baby Shamali Flores was found by our dedicated @houstonpolice guardians.
“Excellence of our understaffed team is second to none. We look forward sharing more information later today.
“Although we mourn the loss of her mother Carolina, we celebrate her recovery.”
A suspect has been arrested, police confirmed, and is expected to be charged.
Police have been sensitive about Flores’s immigration status. She was an illegal immigrant from Honduras, her cousin told KTRK, adding that Flores had started to act differently and refused to talk about Shamali’s father.
At a press conference on Wednesday, Chief Acevedo said: “We want to make sure that people understand that our one focus ... our only goal is to bring justice to this family and [to bring] baby back to where [she] belongs. We’re not interested in anybody’s immigration status.”
Initially, the baby’s father, Marcos Mariano Tomas Palacios, was a person of interest in the case, but police said he has been “forthright and cooperative.” Police, however, haven’t ruled him out completely.
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