Infant’s body found near Fort Worth dumpster; mother faces capital murder charge

A 23-year-old woman intentionally caused the death of her infant whose body was found next to a dumpster at a motel in west Fort Worth on Sunday, police allege.

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Avia Cantrell was arrested on Monday on suspicion of capital murder, according to Fort Worth jail records. A second suspect, 26-year-old Camron Baker, was arrested on suspicion of abuse of a corpse.

Fort Worth police officers were called about 8:45 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 18, to the Drummers Inn, in the 7300 block of Camp Bowie West Boulevard, after a person found the baby’s body, police said.

On Monday morning, a relative of Cantrell who was worried that the baby might be Cantrell’s called police. Cantrell has a history of unattended or undisclosed pregnancy and childbirth and was close to delivering, according to the relative’s account, described in a police record.

The relative said that Cantrell lives at the motel full-time with three other children.

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The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office has not released the cause of the infant’s death.

Fort Worth Police Department crimes against children unit detectives are investigating the case.

This story was originally published October 19, 2026 at 10:48 PM with the headline “Infant’s body found near Fort Worth dumpster; mother faces capital murder charge.”

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