HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — It’s a story rarely told: life after being abandoned as a baby.
A Houston woman, Leigha Curry, is speaking to ABC13 for the second time about her experience. Her story resurfaces as six infants have reportedly been abandoned in Harris County since June.
Curry shared her painful memories with Eyewitness News.
Reflecting on revisiting the place where she was left as an infant, Curry expressed, “It is very difficult for me.” She belongs to a group no one wishes to join—those abandoned as babies. Her story first aired on ABC13 in 1982.
At that time, news reports highlighted the tragic reality: “Two young infants, one just a few hours old, were abandoned and left to die here in Houston over the weekend. One baby did die. The other is doing just fine. They are also looking for the mother of a newborn Black baby girl who was discovered by students at the Williams Middle School in northwest Houston.”
Decades later, ABC13 anchors are sharing eerily similar stories.
“Breaking (Tuesday night), police say it has happened yet again, another newborn baby found dumped, that baby is dead,” Tuesday’s news read.
Curry, who closely follows the news, found it deeply unsettling.
“To see that, it was emotional for me because that could’ve been me,” Curry admitted.
Over the past two months, Harris County has witnessed the abandonment of half a dozen infants. Two were found just last week, both of whom did not survive.
“I can’t imagine how a mother feels, carrying this baby, feeling a bond and connection, and then walking away,” Curry said. “And then, to hear on the news that the baby died—that’s a trauma she’ll have to live with for the rest of her life.”
Despite her own painful past, Curry is dedicated to highlighting the life of an unwanted baby.
“Your humble beginnings do not have to define what your future is going to be like. You are somebody,” she emphasized.
For Curry, healing has largely involved forgiving the mother who abandoned her.
“I don’t hold any malice towards her, but whatever help she needed, she didn’t get, and as a result, I was left behind the school,” Curry reflected.
Curry’s mother never faced legal consequences for her actions.
In contrast, in one recent abandonment case, an 18-year-old mother, Everilda Cux-Ajtzalam, was arrested and charged after discarding her newborn by a dumpster in southwest Houston. Police reported that Cux-Ajtzalam gave birth inside a taco truck, discarded the baby, and then returned to clean the truck.
In another case, an infant was found in the back of a garbage truck in northwest Harris County. The mother reportedly told investigators she got scared after the baby was unresponsive at birth.
Curry believes these cases highlight a larger issue in Harris County.
“I think someone at a higher level needs to come to the table and say, ‘What else do we need to do?'” she urged.
While Curry acknowledges the importance of the Infant Safe Haven Law, which allows parents to safely surrender a baby at a fire station, she feels it’s not enough.
“The fact that expectant mothers are desperate enough to deliver a baby and walk away shows that Harris County has a real problem,” Curry said. “Now is the time to start having these conversations. It is too many.”
