Teen mother abandons infant at San Antonio bus stop, flees in Uber

On Sunday in downtown San Antonio, 18-year-old Karla Ibarra arrived at a bus stop with her one-month-old son and asked Jennifer Benavides for a phone. While speaking, Ibarra began handing Benavides the infant’s birth certificate, Medicaid paperwork and Social Security card, telling her she wanted to give the baby away. Shocked, Benavides took the child to a nearby friend, fed him and changed his diaper before contacting the San Antonio Police Department.

Ibarra fled the scene in an Uber, but returned later and was arrested by police. The baby was placed under the care of relatives. Authorities charged Ibarra with abandoning and endangering a child with intent to return, and set her bail at $7,000. The case highlights concerns despite Texas’s Safe Haven law, which allows anonymous surrender of newborns at designated locations.