Alexi Avila faces a maximum of 18 years in prison after being found guilty of child abuse and attempted first-degree murder for throwing her baby into a dumpster in Hobbs, N.M. But she will get more than a year taken off her sentence for time served.
Avila has been on house arrest since January 12, 2022; a KRQE report said this week. Online court records showed that 5th District Attorney Dianna Luce signed off on Avila receiving 475 days confinement credit for the house arrest.
Avila was charged in January 2022 after a video caught her putting her newborn baby in a trash bag, then throwing the bag in a dumpster. The video, according to prosecutors, was the key to the conviction.
“That video said it all,” Luce said. “It clearly caught her actions. It caught her expressions, and it’s still difficult, I think, for people to watch that video when you think about the fact that that baby was inside that bag.”
Three people digging through the dumpster found the baby still alive. The infant survived his injuries and is in the care of other relatives.
At the time of her arrest, Avila said she didn’t know she was pregnant until the day before.
“I just thought I was gaining weight,” said Avila said in an interview with police. “I was eating more. Nothing changed.”
Avila added that said she thought she was having stomach and back pains from an old car crash.
“I just kept hurting," she said. "So I went to the clinic and they did a urine sample… and they told me I was pregnant. That’s when I found out.”
During the trial, Detective Daniel Perez said during testimony that he had expected to see remorse from Avila, but he did not.
"I was expecting to see someone who was remorseful, you know, truly affected by such an event, and I did not," he said.
After the three-day trial earlier this month, jurors deliberated for three hours before returning a guilty verdict on child abuse resulting in great bodily harm and attempted first-degree murder.
At the time of sentencing, the prosecution said they would seek the maximum. But she is likely to receive a lighter sentence due to a state law that allows judges to consider the age, maturity and potential for rehabilitation of minors when sentencing them for serious crimes.
