Cheerleader Allegedly Admitted to Putting Newborn Baby in Hospital Trash. Now She Could Avoid Criminal Charges By Chris Spargo

Alexee Trevizo, the high school cheerleader who was charged with first-degree murder after she allegedly admitted to putting the body of a newborn baby in a hospital trash can, may avoid facing any criminal charges.

In 2024, the New Mexico Fifth Judicial District Court ruled that all comments made by Trevizo while in her hospital bed, along with surveillance video showing her inside the hospital and any body camera footage captured by police, would not be admissible in court as it was protected under doctor-client privilege.

This ruling effectively destroyed the prosecution’s case against Trevizo, and the state soon filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court arguing that conversations the teenager had in her hospital room with her mother and medical staff while in the presence of law enforcement should be admissible in court.

The defense team successfully argued in front of the district court that Trevizo had not been read her Miranda rights prior to having those conversations, but Assistant Solicitor General Michael Thomas said on Thursday, Sept. 4, that she did not need to be Mirandized because police were not interviewing her at that time.

Trevizo also “waived any privilege when she made statements in the presence of her mother and law enforcement agents,” argued the state in its amicus brief.

Defense lawyers also argued in front of the district court — successfully, again — that Trevizo’s rights were violated when members of law enforcement wearing body cameras entered a room where she was receiving medical treatment.

In their amicus brief, the state said Trevizo “was not under arrest or restraint when she made that admission” and that “the exchange between [Trevizo] and the physician did not rise to the level of police interrogation.”

Thomas also noted on Thursday that Trevizo was free to leave that room at any time and was not being held there by police, prompting one of the justices to ask if the teenager would have known that given the number of law enforcement members present, as well as the armed police officers who later stood guard outside the door to her hospital room.

At this time, the initial reports by staff reporting a possible crime to police are the only evidence from the hospital that is admissible in the case.

This could all change once the Supreme Court issues its ruling, though.

Trevizo’s lawyer argued on Thursday that reversing the district court decision could have wide implications that could effectively violate the privacy rights of all individuals seeking medical treatment in the state.

Trevizo arrived at Artesia General Hospital complaining of severe back pain in the early morning hours of Jan. 27, 2023.

Staff began the process of running tests on the high school senior and giving her some morphine for her pain as they waited for her results.

Trevizo then allegedly left her hospital room to use the bathroom, and upon returning, got back into her bed and said nothing.

A member of the hospital’s cleaning crew later went to clean the bathroom and told officers with the Artesia Police Department that the trash bag felt “heavy,” so she looked inside and discovered the body of a newborn baby.

Police were alerted by staff of a possible crime, as is required under law, and arrived at the hospital in time for at least one officer to capture a conversation between Trevizo, her mother, the charge nurse and doctor with his body camera.

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According to the amicus brief, Dr. Heather Vaskas said to Trevizo, “We discovered a dead baby in the bathroom.” Trevizo then allegedly said, “I’m sorry, it came out of me, I didn’t know what to do.”

After learning that a newborn had been found in the trash can of the bathroom her daughter had just used, Trevizo’s mother asked: “How big is the baby?”

The charge nurse then informed her that the baby appeared to be “full term,” according to the amicus brief, prompting Trevizo to allegedly exclaim: “Nothing was crying.”

Trevizo is then asked by her mother: “Where did you put the baby at? Tell me the truth. You put it in the bag?”

The amicus brief alleged that Trevizo confirmed she did put the newborn in the bag, and her mother then asked: “What bag?”

Her daughter allegedly responded: “The trash bag.”

The district attorney’s office filed charges against Trevizo based on that conversation — which had been captured on body camera — as well as video taken from hospital security cameras that showed Trevizo as she entered and later exited the bathroom where the newborn was discovered.

All of that evidence is now inadmissible.

In their brief, the state also tried to get the district court’s ruling on security camera footage reversed by arguing that “video of the hallway was of a public place accessible in the hospital to others, without any patient-physician privilege.”

Trevizo maintained that the baby was stillborn and after receiving treatment was allowed to go home and continue with her school year until the autopsy report came back showing that the child had air in his lungs and that there was evidence of a hemorrhage consistent with hypoxia.

According to prosecutors, that finding is inconsistent with the claim Trevizo allegedly made to hospital staff when she said the baby was not breathing.

She was arrested on May 10, 2023, and charged with first-degree murder.

Prosecutors fought against pretrial release, but the judge allowed it. Trevizo attended prom and had planned to walk in her high school graduation while awaiting trial for murder, but ultimately her school asked that she not attend the ceremony.

The judge also allowed her to attend college, where students started a petition at one point demanding she be banned from campus.

Trevizo’s lawyer previously told PEOPLE that she is innocent of all crimes and that she didn’t realize she was pregnant until she birthed her child in the hospital bathroom.