The grandfather of the New Mexico baby who was abandoned in a dumpster by his teen mom said his 16-year-old son is the father and his ...
The grandfather of the New Mexico baby who was abandoned in a dumpster by his teen mom said his 16-year-old son is the father and his family wants custody of the infant.
Oscar Astorga, 50, said his son Stephen, 16, had no idea ex-girlfriend Alexis Avila, 18, was pregnant until she gave birth last week and was then caught on camera callously chucking their child into a dumpster behind a shopping center in Hobbs, New Mexico.
'Of course we're trying to get custody,' Astorga told DailyMail.com. 'Of course.
'He is my grandson. That's why we can't comment on anything because we're trying to get my grandson.'
Oscar Astorga, 50, (left) said his family wants custody of their son's baby after mother Alexis Avila, 18, was arrested for abandoning the child inside a New Mexico dumpster
The family of Stephen Astorga, (left) 16, said that he had no idea his former girlfriend Alexis Avila (right) was expecting a baby
He added that his family has received death threats since the video went viral.
Text messages exchanged by Stephen and a friend show he believed Avila had miscarried and had no idea he was to become a father until she was arrested for dumping the baby.
Astorga's family has now hired a lawyer to help them get custody of the baby who is recovering in the care of the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department at a hospital in Lubbock, Texas.
Speaking at his home in Hobbs, Astorga, 50, said the family are pulling out all the stops to get the baby they have named Saul home.
Astorga, who runs a company servicing the local oil and gas industry, told DailyMail.com that the news of the baby had come as a huge shock – and told how his family have received death threats on social media.
Telling of the moment he discovered he had become a grandfather, Astorga said: 'When you don't know and then all of a sudden someone calls you? It's like wow.'
Oscar Astorga was pictured at his Hobbs, New Mexico home. He said his son, Stephen, 16, and his family want custody of the newborn
The teen, who attended Hobbs High School with Avila, has called his son Saul and is reportedly asking for custody of his son. In messages with a friend, he sounded frustrated and upset by the news
After giving birth, Avila said she 'panicked.' She wrapped her son in a towel, placed him in a white plastic bag containing some trash, and a larger black trash bag, and drove around, before throwing the child in the dumpster at the Broadmoor Shopping Center
He added: 'I'd like to tell you a lot of things. I'm a God-fearing man. I just can't comment right now.
'There's a lot of people on social media that have been sending death threats to our family. We haven't done anything wrong. My friend saw them. These people on social media.
'We have nothing to hide but we can't comment right now.'
Stephen has said that Avila, whom he had broken up with in August 2021, told him she had miscarried.
Saul was born in the bathroom of his grandparents' $104,000 Hobbs home last Friday.
Avila told cops that she had no idea she was pregnant and only realized something was amiss when she started getting abdominal pains.
She has been charged with attempted murder and a felony count of child abuse and will appear in court in Lovington, New Mexico, on Wednesday for a detention hearing.
After giving birth, Avila claims she panicked and, hours later, wrapped her infant son in a towel and drove him to the Broadmoor Shopping Mall in downtown Hobbs where she was captured on camera throwing him in a dumpster behind oil industry supply store Rig Outfitters.
The Hobbs High School student was then seen jumping back in her white Volkswagen Jetta and driving off.
Baby Saul was discovered five hours later by three dumpster divers who initially thought the noise they heard was that of a cat mewing.
Panicked 911 calls have emerged detailing the horrifying moment a newborn baby was found in a dumpster in New Mexico. 'We just found a baby in the god**n trash,' the caller is heard saying. 'He's freezing cold and still has his umbilical cord attached'
Footage from the same camera caught the moment a heroic woman rescued the child
One the rescuers, April Meadow, wrapped the baby in her coat – telling a 911 dispatch operator that the baby was 'freezing cold.'
After the baby was found, he was taken to a hospital in Hobbs and then transferred to a hospital in Lubbock, Texas, which has a more advanced NICU unit.
When doctors assessed the baby, they found that his body temperate was so low that it did not register, indicating hypothermia. The newborn was also given a blood transfusion, and put on a feeding tube and oxygen.
Police said the baby was in a stable condition at the hospital on Monday.
Avila's mother Martha, 47, has broken her silence to defend her daughter and told DailyMail.com that the birth came as 'a shock'
Avila's mother told DailyMail.com that the birth came as 'a shock' outside her $104,000 home in Hobbs, New Mexico
On Tuesday, Avila's mother spoke out for the first time – defending her daughter and telling DailyMail.com: 'Everyone makes mistakes'.
Martha Avila, 47, said she had no idea her daughter was pregnant and added that news of the birth came as a shock.
The 47-year-old said her family does not plan to share their side of the story but a lawyer for Avila said they will make a statement following a detention hearing for their client on Wednesday afternoon.
Martha added: 'People can talk and give their opinion. Everybody makes mistakes. People can preach all they want, they can judge all they want but we only care about the judgment of one.'
Meanwhile, some of Avila's friends have challenged her version of events, saying the teen mom was 'open about her pregnancy' at school.
Astorga's version of events also clashes with Avila's with a friend of the teen dad telling DailyMail.com that he had known she was pregnant but was told she miscarried after they split up in August 2021.
'I heard her talk about being pregnant around late September, early October,' the classmate said. 'She never expressed that it was a bad thing that she was pregnant.'
Avila reportedly dropped out of high school on December 17. Hobbs High School refused to comment on her case.
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