Young woman who claims she abandoned baby turns herself in

A young woman who claims she abandoned her newborn baby on a church doorstep early Sunday returned to the Federal Way church this morning and then called police to turn herself in.

Around 6:15 a.m. today, the young woman returned to the church, said Rev. Brent Anderson, pastor at Steel Lake Presbyterian Church.

About 12:15 p.m. she walked into the Federal Way police department and was interviewed by detectives. She declined medical attention and a detective drove her home two hours later, said department spokeswoman Cathy Schrock.

The baby, nicknamed Autumn Doe by the nursing staff at St. Joseph's Medical Center in Tacoma, is a healthy, five-pound girl.

"She's not sick, she's not injured, nor has she been abused," said hospital spokesman Gale Robinette. "We have this little baby and she's in great shape."

Police said the woman, 22, arrived at Steel Lake Presbyterian Church, 1829 S. 308th St., at about 2:15 a.m. Sunday and left the baby in front of the glass entrance doors.

The baby, who was about 6 hours old when she was left on the doorstep, was swaddled in a bloody beach towel. She spent nearly six hours alone in 49-degree temperatures before she was discovered by a parishioner and taken to a hospital by police at about 8 a.m., said police spokeswoman Cathy Schrock.

Church officials turned over a surveillance tape that shows the young woman leaving the child outside the glass doors. It shows the woman walking in the shadows through the church parking lot to the entranceway, where the lighting was brighter. After looking around briefly, she lays the baby in the entranceway, and after a brief adjustment to a towel, walks away. Car lights seen shortly after indicated she may have arrived in a vehicle, police said.

Detectives haven't said what charges she could face.

State law allows people to legally drop off a child or other dependent person at emergency rooms, hospitals and fire stations when "qualified personnel," such as emergency medical technicians, are present.

"All you have to say is, 'I cannot care for this child,' and walk away," Schrock said. By leaving the child unattended at a place where there was no one qualified to care for the baby, the woman committed a felony, she said.