Arrest Is Made in Newborn’s Death

Police arrested a 21-year-old USC student Wednesday on suspicion of murder after connecting her to the death of a newborn boy whose body was found next to a trash bin behind a popular student bar, authorities said.

Holly Ashcraft was ordered held on $1-million bail after she was taken into custody at 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

She reportedly had been suspended from USC because of academic problems, LAPD Capt. Anita Ortega said.

The baby, with his umbilical cord still attached, was uncovered in a cardboard box behind a bar called The 29 at 29th and South Hoover streets just after midnight Monday.

Police were alerted to the discovery when an anonymous caller dialed 911 from a nearby Ralphs grocery store and reported what he had found.

Paramedics pronounced the infant dead at the scene.

On Wednesday, authorities said it was the 911 call that led to a break in the case. A woman who heard the 911 tape played on television recognized the caller’s voice and persuaded him to cooperate with police, Ortega said. That cooperation led to Ashcraft’s arrest.

Ortega thanked the caller for coming forward to police and assisting them with their investigation. “Had it not been for him, I believe the case would have gone unsolved,” she said.

An autopsy was performed on the infant’s body Tuesday, but the official cause of death will not be determined until toxicology tests are completed.

Police say it is unclear whether the infant was dead when he was placed beside the trash bin.

The infant did not appear to be injured or abused and was thought to be full term.

The bar was closed at the time the body was discovered.

Under state law, a mother who does want to keep her baby can relinquish a newborn to any hospital or fire station with no questions asked.