The new child, nicknamed “Angel Child Doe,” was discovered useless alongside a rural highway along with her umbilical twine nonetheless connected in November 2001.
Johnson County Sheriff’s WorkplaceA sketch of “Angel Child Doe,” who was present in a Texas ditch in 2001.
Greater than twenty years in the past, a person choosing up cans alongside the facet of the highway between Alvarado and Burleson, Texas, got here throughout a horrifying sight in ditch: a useless new child child wrapped in a jacket.
Now, because of DNA know-how, authorities have positioned the toddler’s organic mom and charged her with second-degree manslaughter.
The Discovery Of Angel Child Doe
In line with a 2021 Facebook post from the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office, on Nov. 18, 2001, a resident of Johnson County was choosing up cans alongside Briar Oaks Street, south of Fort Value, when he observed one thing in a ditch.
The person went to research and found a useless toddler lady wrapped in a jacket along with her umbilical twine nonetheless connected. He notified the authorities, who rapidly responded to the scene.
“It was evident that Angel Child Doe, the title she has been given, had been born alive that day, exterior of a medical facility,” the Johnson County Sheriff’s Workplace defined of their submit.
Investigators discovered that the child’s mom had didn’t clamp her umbilical twine, which meant that Angel Child Doe had bled to loss of life shortly after beginning.
“Because of the nature of the kid’s discovery,” the Fb submit continued, “foul play has been decided.”
YeomansNBC5/XA gravestone for Angel Child Doe, who died shortly after her beginning in 2001.
Within the aftermath of Angel Child Doe’s discovery, investigators started to attempt to decide the identification of her organic mom — and to seek out solutions as to how the new child had ended up within the ditch.
“The Sheriff’s workplace has labored tirelessly… to seek out out the identification of this little one,” the Johnson County Sheriff’s Workplace mentioned. “Numerous leads and ideas have are available throughout these years, but none have revealed her identification. It’s clear that this case stays very private for all concerned.”
As they famous of their 2021 Fb submit, the sheriff’s workplace determined to use a brand new instrument to their seek for solutions: DNA know-how. Earlier than lengthy, it led to Angel Child Doe’s organic mom, Shelby Stotts.
How Authorities Tracked Down Shelby Stotts
Ultimately, the chilly case of Angel Child Doe was solved because of DNA.
Johnson County Sheriff’s WorkplaceShelby Stotts has now been charged with second-degree manslaughter.
“In June 2021, the Johnson County Sheriff’s Workplace submitted forensic proof to Othram [a private DNA laboratory]… in hopes that superior DNA testing might assist to determine the kid,” the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office explained on Facebook in July 2024. “Othram scientists efficiently developed a DNA profile for the toddler.”
Utilizing the DNA profile, investigators had been capable of find “potential kinfolk” of Angel Child Doe. This, in flip, led them to Shelby Stotts, who was working as a paraprofessional at Cleburne Excessive Faculty in close by Cleburne, Texas, on the time of the toddler’s loss of life. She has been indicted for second-degree manslaughter by the Texas Workplace of the Lawyer Normal’s Lacking Individuals and Chilly Case Unit.
“In line with the indictment, in November 2001, Stotts recklessly induced the loss of life of her new child daughter by leaving the child unattended on the facet of the highway, failing to hunt immediate medical care after giving beginning, and failing to clamp the child’s umbilical twine which induced the kid to bleed to loss of life,” the Johnson County Sheriff’s Workplace defined. “Stotts will probably be prosecuted beneath the legal guidelines that had been in impact on the time of the offense.”
Thus far, Stotts has not made an announcement on the fees. However the Johnson County Sheriff’s Workplace was jubilant over the conclusion of this 23-year-old case. On Fb, they wrote: “COLD CASE OF BABY DOE… SOLVED!”
After studying in regards to the unhappy conclusion to this 23-year-old Texas chilly case, see how investigators solved the cold case of the “boy in the box” after 65 years. Or, look through other cold cases that stay unsolved to this present day.
