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Baby girl found safe, placed in foster care
Published April 11, 2009
BRAZORIA — A 7-month-old girl given to police outside a cemetery shed Friday now is in foster care pending a hearing Monday to determine whether she is living in a safe environment, Houston Child Protective Services officials said.
“We want to sort out what’s in the best interest of the baby,” said Gwen Carter, CPS spokeswoman. “We feel she’s at risk for abuse and neglect. We don’t know if she’s protected.”
A court hearing hopefully will determine Monday afternoon whether the child should be placed indefinitely in foster care, Carter said.
The girl and her mother, Anna Karen Vera, 18, were forcibly taken from a Brazoria baseball field by Daniel Zaragoza, 22, about 8:30 p.m. Thursday, Brazoria Police Chief Neal Longbotham said. Zaragoza, Vera and the child were found inside a shed on the Badge Cemetery grounds Friday.
Police and FBI agents surrounded the shed Friday morning in Brazoria and took Zaragoza into custody.
After police surrounded the shed, Zaragoza walked out and turned himself in, Longbotham said. Zaragoza did not have any weapons at the time of his arrest, he said.
“It’s great it worked out,” Longbotham said. “He was arrested without incident. He had the baby in his arms.”
Zaragoza was held at the Brazoria city jail on $100,000 bond Friday on two kidnapping charges, Longbotham said.
Vera and her daughter did not appear injured, he said.
Brazoria police issued an Amber Alert on Thursday night and worked with FBI officials and Brazoria County sheriff’s deputies to find Zaragoza, Longbotham said.
Zaragoza is accused of hitting Vera then forcing her and the child into a Ford truck about 8:30 p.m. Thursday at a Brazoria baseball field, Longbotham said.
The cemetery is about 2 miles across town from the field. Zaragoza worked with a lawn care service that contracted with the cemetery, Longbotham said.
“He was familiar with the property,” he said.
Longbotham said Zaragoza had been released from jail Thursday after he posted bond on a charge of unlawfully carrying a weapon.
Police tracked Zaragoza to the shed after talking to relatives and friends throughout the night Thursday and Friday morning.
Police were surprised Zaragoza stayed in Brazoria, he said.
“We figured he would head south,” Longbotham said. “He’s done that before.”
Zaragoza once was accused of grabbing Vera from her parents’ home and forcing her into a car in March 2007. He later was arrested in Victoria in that incident, Brazoria County District Attorney Jeri Yenne said.
After the March 2007 incident, Vera’s family asked that Zaragoza not be prosecuted for kidnapping, Yenne said.
“At that point in time, the victim’s family repeatedly assured me there was no concern,” Yenne said.
Vera’s family members could not be contacted Friday.
“I don’t know if I would have done anything different back then,” Yenne said.
Zaragoza served six months in state jail on an unrelated forgery charge and still is serving three years probation, she said.
Zaragoza could face additional charges of child endangerment and unlawful restraint, Yenne said.
John Tompkins is senior reporter for The Facts. Contact him at (979) 849-8581.
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