ST. LOUIS – A seriously ill 10-month-old baby at the center of an overnight AMBER Alert was found safe Thursday morning.
The child’s mother is now in custody and faces criminal charges tied to the AMBER Alert. St. Louis County prosecutors have charged Jayana Johnson, 24, with one count of first-degree endangering the welfare of a child.
The Amber Alert was issued after police said the baby’s 24-year-old mother took the child from Children’s Hospital in the Central West End, violating at least two orders. St. Louis County Police told us that the 10-month-old girl was brought to Children’s Hospital and was determined to be in critical and unstable condition due to neglect.
Authorities shared the baby weighed 13 pounds. According to the CDC website, the average weight for a 10-month-old girl is about 19 pounds. Police say the baby had around 17 bone fractures due to a lack of care.
Investigators explained that a protective custody order was issued, but the mother left the hospital with the child against doctor’s orders and against the protective custody order. That prompted the Amber Alert, which many of us got on our phones overnight. The alert lasted more than two and a half hours before it was canceled.
A release from county police said that the mother refused to bring the child back to the hospital and that the baby was in imminent threat of death if medical intervention wasn’t received.
FOX 2 is still waiting to hear more details from county police on how the mom and baby were located. It’s understood that the baby is safe and is being treated at a hospital, but not Children’s.
Johnson is now behind bars in St. Louis County on a $200,000 bond.