Tips lead police to baby’s mother

Las Vegas police identified the mother of an abandoned 8-month-old Thursday thanks to tipsters who called a missing-persons hot line.

The mother, 20-year-old Albanisha Jones, was arrested about 10 a.m. on an unrelated bench warrant while detectives continued their investigation into why she left her daughter in a stroller at the corner of Charleston Boulevard and Pecos Road, Lt. Ray Steiber said.

Authorities called for the public's help in identifying the infant after she was found about noon Wednesday.

Investigators received four solid leads from the hot line, which was staffed overnight to handle calls, Steiber said.

Those leads led police to Jones, who was taken into custody on the warrant.

That case stemmed from her November 2007 arrest after a Las Vegas police officer found two rocks of crack cocaine in her purse, according to court documents.

Jones might have been homeless at the time, as police listed her address as transient.

Detectives were questioning Jones as part of their investigation. Steiber said it was too soon to tell whether Jones would face criminal charges related to her abandoned child.

After the child was found, she was taken to University Medical Center for a health screening before being taken to Child Haven, the county's emergency children's shelter.

She later was transferred to a foster home, said Christine Skorupski, spokeswoman for Clark County's Department of Family Services.

Although the case would not have fallen under the state's safe-haven law, authorities used the instance to remind parents and caregivers that they can leave newborns under 30 days old at hospitals and fire stations with no questions asked.

"It is a choice rather than discarding the child in a Dumpster," Clark County Fire Department spokesman Scott Allison said.

Contact reporter Brian Haynes at bhaynes@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0281.