Sonia Cristal Jimenez, a 38-year-old woman from Las Cruces, New Mexico, faces a first-degree felony charge of intentional child abuse resulting in death after allegedly giving birth to a baby girl in a portable toilet at Burn Lake and placing the newborn in the waste tank, where she drowned. The incident came to light around 10:30 p.m. on Saturday, February 7, 2026, when hospital staff at Memorial Medical Center notified police that Jimenez had arrived with her boyfriend, showing signs of recent birth but without a baby.
Discovery and Evidence
Jimenez’s boyfriend told police they had been at Burn Lake, about 220 miles south of Albuquerque, and she had spent time in a portable toilet; officers found the lifeless newborn in the holding tank there. Firefighters recovered the body, and a Monday autopsy by the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator confirmed the baby was alive at birth—she had breathed and swallowed the blue sanitation chemical found in her trachea, lungs, and stomach.
Arrest and Status
Jimenez was arrested Wednesday morning on an arrest warrant and booked into Doña Ana County Detention Center, held without bond; no court date was specified, and her boyfriend faces no charges as he was unaware of the birth. Authorities believe she cut the umbilical cord before placing the child in the tank.
