HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) – A Houston woman, abandoned as a newborn over 40 years ago, is speaking out after six infants were reportedly abandoned in Harris County since June.
Leigha Curry, who was left to die as a baby, shared her thoughts with ABC13 as she reflected on her painful past. “It is very difficult for me,” Curry said when asked about returning to the place where she was found.
Curry’s story, first aired by ABC13 in 1982, highlighted the grim reality of infant abandonment in Houston. “Two young infants, one just a few hours old, were abandoned and left to die here in Houston over the weekend. One baby did die. The other is doing just fine,” the news reported at the time.
Now, decades later, similar stories are resurfacing. Just this past Tuesday, ABC13 anchors reported another case of infant abandonment. “Police say it has happened yet again, another newborn baby found dumped, that baby is dead,” the news read.
For Curry, these recent reports hit close to home. “To see that, it was emotional for me because that could’ve been me,” she said.
In the last two months, six babies have been found abandoned across Harris County. Two of these infants, discovered within the last week, did not survive.
“I can’t imagine how she feels, carrying this baby, feeling a bond and connection, and then you walk away, and then I know you hear on the news that the baby died,” Curry said, reflecting on the trauma these mothers must endure.
Curry has made it her mission to discuss the perspective of those who survive abandonment. “Your humble beginnings do not have to define what your future is going to be like. You are somebody,” she emphasized.
Forgiveness has been a significant part of Curry’s healing process. “I don’t hold any malice towards her, but whatever help she needed, she didn’t get, and as a result, I was left behind the school,” Curry said, referring to her mother, who never faced consequences for her actions.
In contrast, recent cases have seen legal repercussions. One incident involved 18-year-old Everilda Cux-Ajtzalam, who was arrested and charged with abandoning her child after giving birth in a taco truck and discarding the baby by a dumpster in southwest Houston. In another case, a newborn was found in the back of a garbage truck in northwest Harris County. The mother claimed the baby was unresponsive after birth, and she panicked.
Curry believes that more needs to be done to address this issue. “I think someone at a higher level needs to come to the table and say, ‘What else do we need to do?'” she said.
While Curry acknowledges the importance of the Infant Safe Haven Law, which allows parents to leave a child at a fire station, she argues that it isn’t enough. She sees the recent cases as a sign that Harris County has a significant problem. “Now is the time to start having these conversations. It is too many,” Curry said.
