Lui Marin and his wife, Daniela Fedele, were returning from a walk with their 3-year-old daughter and their dogs around 9 A.M. on Saturday morning when they came across a newborn, wrapped in a towel with her umbilical cord and placenta still attached.
Surveillance video shows a man leaving the baby on a bridge along the walking trail in Katy, Texas, just a few minutes before Luis and Daniela spotted the baby.
Fedele said she first saw the baby's feet moving and yelled to her husband who immediately ran and picked up the baby, telling Daniela to call 911.
He took the baby to the nearest shady area while they waited for first responders to arrive.
Luis Marin said of the moment he picked up the baby,
I hold it. The baby opens their eyes to me, looked at me. We make eye contact. And I'm like, how can somebody just do this?
Daniela said she was also in shock, telling KPRC news,
This image has been going on through my head so many times, and this is, like, how can you do that? I was shocked, I was mad, I was upset.
The baby, a girl who appeared to be born prematurely, was taken to Methodist Hospital in Katy, where she is doing well and is expected to be released into the care of Child Protective Services.
Police say that the "young Hispanic or white male" suspect has not been found, but they are continuing to review surveillance footage from the area in hopes of finding the man responsible for abandoning the newborn. He would face child endangerment and abandonment charges.
Safe Haven laws in Texas would have allowed the parents to legally surrender their child at a local fire station, police station, or hospital.
Lui and Daniela are just thankful that they decided to go for their morning walk on that Saturday, despite the scorching Texas heat.
We were just there by chance. I guess by God. God put us there, I guess.
✊
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