Inset: Karla Ibarra (Bexar County Sheriff's Office). Background: The bus stop in San Antonio where Karla Ibarra allegedly handed over her baby to a woman (KSAT/YouTube).
An 18-year-old Texas mother allegedly handed her 1-month-old son to a complete stranger at a bus stop and said, "Well, do you want him?" before taking out his birth certificate and Social Security card to give away to them.
Karla Ibarra, 18, was waiting to board a bus in downtown San Antonio when she allegedly approached another woman and asked to use her phone, according to police. The other woman, Jennafire Benavides, told local ABC affiliate KSAT that Ibarra then handed over her 1-month-old son.
"Very beautiful baby," Benavides said. "She's like, 'Well, do you want him? I'm going to give him away. I'm going to give him to somebody.'"
According to Benavides, Ibarra began "handing me his birth certificate, his Medicaid, his Social Security card," KSAT reports. The two of them went to the home of one of Benavides' friends who lives nearby and Ibarra allegedly called an Uber while there before abandoning her son, according to Benavides.
Ibarra later returned and was arrested.
"It's upsetting to know that, with even all the resources that we have out there, that somebody would just do this," Benavides said. "God just put me at the right place and the right time."
Texas' Baby Moses Law allows a parent to anonymously surrender an unharmed newborn who is 60 days old or younger without facing criminal penalties, according to KSAT. The baby must be taken to a designated emergency infant care location, which can be a fire station, EMS station or hospital.
Ibarra is charged with abandoning and endangering a child with intent to return, according to online court records. Her bail was set at $7,000.