- Shelby Stotts, 48, has been arrested for allegedly abandoning the child
Texas authorities have announced a major breakthrough in the case of ‘Angel Baby Doe,’ a newborn who was found dead in a cow pasture more than 20 years ago.
Shelby Stotts, 48, was arrested for allegedly leaving the girl to die on the side of the road in November 2001 after new DNA evidence confirmed she was the child’s mother, the Texas Attorney General’s Missing Persons and Cold Case Unit said. announced on Monday.
Prosecutors say Stotts, a Cleburne High School paraprofessional, recklessly caused the girl’s death by abandoning her, failing to provide medical care and failing to clamp the girl’s umbilical cord, causing the girl to bleed to death.
The young woman’s body was finally found on November 18, 2001 in Johnson County by a man identified by police as Johnny Riddle. WFAA reports.
Shelby Stotts, 48, was arrested Monday for allegedly leaving her baby on the side of the road to bleed to death.
Riddle had been collecting cans in the area when he noticed the newborn wrapped in a jacket with the umbilical cord still attached. according to Fox 4 News.
She then called local police, who collected evidence from the scene, including a broken keychain, a spittoon and a Coca-Cola bottle, in the hope of one day obtaining DNA.
For years, DNA testing led to dead ends.
But in 2021, the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office sent the forensic evidence to Othram, a lab in The Woodlands that specializes in solving cold cases.
That lab was able to develop a DNA profile of the baby, and in September 2023, the Attorney General’s Office was able to identify Stotts as the child’s mother.
Other evidence also suggested that the baby, whom police nicknamed ‘Angel Baby Doe,’ was alive and breathing at the time of her birth. According to the Dallas Morning News.
‘Angel Baby Doe’ was found in November 2001 wrapped in a jacket with the umbilical cord still attached.
“After more than 20 years, we are closer to achieving justice for Angel Baby Doe and ensuring that the person responsible for this tragedy is held accountable,” said Attorney General Ken Paxton.
“I am grateful for the talent and tenacity of our investigators, and I thank the law enforcement professionals at the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office for their dedication to uncovering the truth.”
Stotts was eventually booked into the Johnson County Jail on Monday and will be arraigned under laws that were in effect in 2001.
As of Tuesday morning, no bond had been set for Stotts, and it was unclear whether he had hired an attorney to speak on his behalf.
Meanwhile, the Cleburne Independent School District announced it would no longer work at the high school.
“The Cleburne Independent School District takes these allegations very seriously,” district officials told Fox 4, adding that it “intends to follow board policy and state law and investigate the matter thoroughly.”