A 19-year-old who allegedly killed her newborn son by stuffing him in a hospital trash can was released from jail on $100,000 bond ahead of her high school graduation.
In December 2022, investigators claim Alexee Trevizo went to an Artesia, New Mexico hospital complaining of severe back pain. She was treated and released. A few weeks later, she went back complaining of back pain again, but while she was there, hospital staff members believe she locked herself inside a bathroom, gave birth, then stuffed the baby into the bathroom’s trash can.
“The baby’s dead,” a hospital worker can be heard saying to officers on body camera footage. “She killed the kid.”
A medical examiner classified the newborn’s death as a homicide, noting the death was not consistent with a stillbirth as the little baby boy had air in his lungs.
After four months of investigating, Trevizo was arrested on May 10 and charged with first-degree murder, child abuse and tampering with evidence. The teen was released Tuesday on $100,000 bond.
Her release stipulations require her to follow a 7 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. curfew — but she is not required to be on house arrest or wear a GPS ankle bracelet.
Trevizo will be allowed to attend her high school graduation on May 25.
Alexee Trevizo (Artesia Police Department)
“I don’t think that there’s anything surprising or unusual about it,” defense attorney Charles Rittgers told Law&Crime Network referencing Trevizo’s release. “I don’t think she’s a flight risk. The whole purpose of bond is to make sure that someone shows up in court. And probably $100,000 in this situation is more than adequate to make sure that she shows.”
Rittgers represented Brooke Skylar Richardson, an Ohio woman who was accused of murdering her newborn baby and burying the corpse in her parents’ backyard when she was just 17 years old. Richardson was charged with aggravated murder, involuntary manslaughter, child endangerment, and abuse of a corpse. A jury found her not guilty of all of the charges, except for abusing a corpse.
“I’ve hurt so many people with what I’ve done, and I’m forever sorry,” Richardson said at her sentencing hearing. Shewas sentenced to three years of community control. In 2022, a judge ordered her conviction record to be sealed.
In Richardson’s case, Rittgers believed an inaccurate narrative perpetuated by the prosecution helped secure a near-complete acquittal.
“The person who did the forensic autopsy for the government mainly based her opinion that it was a homicide, not on what was found in the infant’s grave,” Rittgers explained. “The pathologist didn’t follow up, didn’t use common sense, and stuck to the story that Skyler had burned her baby.”
Dr. Elizabeth Murray, the pathologist in Richardson’s case, initially reported there was evidence that the baby’s bones may have been burned. But ahead of trial, Dr. Murray backtracked, said there were no signs the remains were burned.
“The reason she thought that the baby had been burned was because the bones went dark. But upon further examination, the bones dried out,” Rittgers confirmed.
The defense attorney also credits expert witnesses testimony for the near acquittal. He believes this too will be vital in Trevizo’s case.
“It depends on the science. And the number one thing that stuck out to me is the autopsy report where the pathologist claims [they] found air in the baby’s lungs, which they claim would indicate a live birth. It’s going to depend a lot on that finding,” he explained.
Trevizo’s attorney, Gary Mitchell, argued his client should not face a murder charge, stating “this isn’t a classic child abuse case,” and noting Trevizo doesn’t have a criminal record.
Following Trevizo’s arrest, the Artesia Police Department released the following statement:
“Our officers and crime scene investigator, along with the hospital staff, experienced a heartbreaking situation on that January morning and have been coping with what they encountered. One of the worst calls any first responder or public service person has to respond to, is the severe injury or death of a child. We are expected to be ‘tough’ in those types of incidents because of our job titles, but in all actuality, we are quite the opposite after we have time to process what happened. Our routine calls of service or emergency responses are usually carried out easily with commitment and dedication to our city, but a call like this can be a breaking point for some or all of those involved. It’s important that we provide the very best resources, counseling, and stress management tools to help our staff cope with this traumatic event, so that they may continue their dedicated service.”
Trevizo’s arraignment has not been scheduled in court yet.
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