Investigators connected a newborn found near a Fort Worth dumpster to two motel residents before making arrests Monday.
FORT WORTH, Texas — A relative’s welfare call and surveillance recordings from a west Fort Worth motel helped investigators identify two people arrested after a newborn was discovered near a dumpster, according to an arrest affidavit and police records.
Avia Cantrell, 23, was booked on a charge of capital murder of a person younger than 10, and Camron Kyjuan Baker, 26, was booked on a charge of abuse of a corpse. The arrests followed an investigation at the Drummers Inn in the 7300 block of Camp Bowie West Boulevard, where police responded Sunday night after the infant was found. The charges are allegations and have not been proven in court.
The investigation began after police were called to the motel on the evening of Oct. 18. According to the affidavit, a woman searching through a dumpster found a bag and opened it at a nearby business. She and another person checked what was inside, alerted someone at the motel and called 911. Police said the child was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead.
Detectives returned to the motel Monday and began examining surveillance recordings. During that process, a relative of Cantrell contacted police to request a welfare check, according to the affidavit. The relative told investigators Cantrell had been pregnant, was believed to be near her due date and lived at the motel with three children.
An officer contacted Cantrell at the motel. The affidavit says she initially denied being pregnant. Investigators, however, reviewed older surveillance video that they said appeared to show Cantrell with a larger abdomen in June. Police also examined more recent footage involving activity near the area where the newborn was found.
According to investigators, the motel manager identified Cantrell in surveillance footage and confirmed that she lived at the property. Police then went to her room, where she was staying with three children. Those children were later placed with a relative, according to the reporting reviewed in the case.
Investigators said Cantrell eventually told them she had delivered a baby in the motel room on Oct. 14. The affidavit alleges the child was moving after birth and later died. Cantrell told police she placed the newborn in a bag and contacted Baker, according to investigators. The affidavit says the infant remained in the room for several days.
Police allege Baker later took the bag containing the infant to the dumpster. Investigators said Baker acknowledged moving the body and told officers he had not contacted police after learning what had happened. His abuse-of-a-corpse charge relates to the alleged handling of the newborn after death; police records do not list him on a murder charge.
The arrests were recorded under the same Fort Worth police report number on Oct. 19. Department records show Cantrell was transferred to the Tarrant County Jail. Baker was listed early Tuesday as being held at the Fort Worth Police Department detention facility.
The medical examiner had not publicly announced a cause or manner of death in the information available Tuesday morning. Police also had not released the infant’s identity. Those unresolved findings remain significant as detectives work to establish the complete circumstances surrounding the child’s death.
The Fort Worth Police Department’s Crimes Against Children Unit continues to investigate. Authorities had not announced additional charges or a confirmed next court proceeding as of Tuesday morning.
Author note: Last updated October 20, 2026.