Nearly a year after a newborn was discovered dead in the back of a garbage truck, a 22-year-old Texas woman is facing charges in the case.
Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez announced Monday that Catherine Innes has been charged with tampering with a human corpse in connection with the August 2024 death of her son, Jesus Martinez, according to ABC 13 News. (RELATED: Phoenix Police Conduct Welfare Check, Find Newborn Baby ‘Clinging To Life’ After Mother Died)
Arrest update, August 2024 incident:
Catherine Nicole Innes (8-9-2002) has been charged with Tampering with Evidence-Human Corpse. Innes allegedly discarded her newborn baby in the trash. Innes has been booked in the Harris County Jail. https://t.co/CYJbUxgihw
— Ed Gonzalez (@SheriffEd_HCSO) July 21, 2025
The infant’s body was found the morning of August 14, 2024, dumped in a garbage truck near Innes’ home. She admitted to being the baby’s mother the same day investigators responded to the call, the outlet reported.
Innes told deputies she had given birth in the shower three days earlier, passed out, and woke to find the baby not breathing. She allegedly wrapped his body, along with her nightgown and bloody towels in a trash bag and left it in an outdoor bin.
@HCSOTexas deputies responded to a residential neighborhood at the 13200 blk of Fountain Crest. Workers in a waste collection truck were servicing the area and discovered what appears to be a deceased newborn male infant amongst the collected trash waste.
1/2 pic.twitter.com/OoBCeCETIS— Ed Gonzalez (@SheriffEd_HCSO) August 14, 2024
Investigators said the bag sat in the trash bin for three days before being collected by a Best Trash crew. The body was reportedly partially crushed and already showing signs of decomposition. Workers told deputies the truck’s compactor had been used.
At the time, the infant was estimated to be between one and 30 days old. Innes was booked into Harris County Jail.