A woman has been arrested and is now facing charges of the murder of a newborn baby. Melissa Jean Allen Avila, 55, has been identified as a suspect in the murder of the child, which occurred 37 years ago in Southern California. On October 13, 1987, a man looking for recyclables in a dumpster behind a business in Riverside ended up finding the body of the baby girl.
At the time, the death was ruled a homicide by the Riverside County Coroner’s Office. Though Riverside Police Department investigated the case, "all leads were exhausted and a suspect was not identified."
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While the investigation was then closed, the police department formed a homicide cold case unit in 2020, and new detectives started looking into the case. With the help of modern DNA technology, they were able to identify the newborn’s mother as Avila. She was 19 at the time of the baby's death.
As KTLA reports, local police worked with the US Marshals Service to find the mother, who no longer lived in California. She was later located in Shelby, North Carolina, and arrested by local authorities for murder. She was taken back to Riverside County, where she'll face the charges for killing her daughter. She’s being held on $1.1 million bail at the Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility in Banning. She is due in court on September 9, 2024.
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The Riverside Police Department also recognized that the arrest was only possible with help from law enforcement partners across the state and nation and the nonprofit organization Season of Justice, which helped fund the DNA analysis.
Riverside Police Chief Larry Gonzalez said that the police department and detectives from the cold case unit are dedicated to "seeking justice for homicide victims and ensuring their families find closure." Gonzalez added, "This victim now has an identity, bringing resolution to the case."
