MEDINA COUNTY, Texas — A woman has been arrested and charged with the murder of her infant daughter more than 19 years after the newborn baby's remains were discovered alongside a rural Medina County road, authorities say.
Maricela Frausto, 44, is now facing a charge of capital murder. She's jailed on a $1 million bond, and if released would be required to wear a GPS monitor.
According to the Hondo Anvil Herald, the hometown paper of record, a local landowner found the body of the newborn – later named "Baby Hope Medina" by the investigators who worked the crime scene – near a fence along County Road 448, outside the City of Hondo in Medina County, in September of 2004.
According to published reports at the time, the baby girl was born alive, according to autopsy results.
“We worked it like you would work a crime scene, except it was a little doll, a little newborn baby, so it hit home," said Medina County Sheriff Randy Brown. "That's not our normal here, so it hit maybe a little different than some of the other cases would do.”
Brown said in a statement that the arrest fulfilled a 19-year promise that "we would find who was responsible for this horrible, horrible crime."
"Many hands have touched this case, all with one goal: to know why and who was responsible for dumping this beautiful little girl on the side of a county road," Brown's statement reads. "The days, the months, the years and all the hours spent on this case do not equal the amount of love and compassion the community poured out for Baby Hope Medina."
Brown says, as time has passed, he feels proud of the way his team was able to pass the torch forward so the investigation never wavered.
“There are people who have retired since this case started. From that night, that evening on that county road, anytime we commit to something we usually find out that we cross that finish line. There was a commitment made, a promise that day, and we have crossed that finish line,” Brown said.
Brown says all his team members who have taken oaths to serve over the years are proud that they have been able to speak for a small soul silenced too soon.
“Baby Hope never had an opportunity to speak. Never learned how. So we were her voice and we have spoken,” Brown says.
Brown says Frausto is the biological mother of the baby, but he declined to elaborate on the specifics related to any evidence of how the baby ended up dead and dumped.
Brown says DNA evidence is what led to this moment.
“It's funny in these types of cases, because the ah-ha moment can come in an envelope. You're like, 'Holy smoke!' There it is. The DNA and the work those people do is a very big part in the arrest of the biological mother of Baby Hope,” Brown says.
After the long wait for justice, the sheriff said the moment of the arrest was calm.
“We pulled up and she was just told, 'Hey, you are under arrest. You've been indicted.' And she cooperated. We brought her to the jail."
With regard to an explanation about what happened to the tiny girl, Brown says Frausto failed to offer any clues.
“She has an attorney," he said, "so we'll save that for the DA's office.”
In September, the Medina County Sheriff's Office (MCSO) held a memorial service to commemorate the 19th anniversary of Baby Hope's discovery. Brown said many on his team took the time to count the days.
“It's been a long time: 19 years, two months and one day, yesterday,” Brown said, adding, “We gathered for her birthday just the other day and said a little prayer so she knows she has not been forgotten, but we will probably all lay our heads on our pillows and sleep a little better.”
Pausing to reflect on the reaction in his heart, Brown said: “A lot of tears, the time and hours and stuff spent, I guess it's kind of like you made it to the top of the mountain because we are the voice for Baby Hope. We are her family, and proud to be so.”
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