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Mother arrested when children found abandoned, malnourished

CNJ STAFF WRITER

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A Clovis mother of two was arrested Saturday after police found her 8-month-old daughter abandoned, dehydrated and malnourished inside a travel trailer, police said.

The baby, in critical condition late Saturday, was flown by medical helicopter to University Medical Center in Lubbock, said Clovis Police Sgt. Rich Johnson.

Myrena Rodriguez, 18, was arrested and charged with third-degree felony abandonment or abuse of a child and obstruction of reporting or investigation of child abuse or neglect. She was being held in the Curry County Adult Detention Center in lieu of $11,000 bond on Saturday night.

Rodriguez’s other child, a 2-year-old boy, was with her in her apartment in the 300 block of Reid Street when police located her. They went to her apartment after receiving a tip related to possible child abuse, Johnson said. Rodriguez then took police to her daughter, who was in the travel trailer at a relative’s residence in the 1800 block of Brady Avenue, Johnson said.

Both children were taken into emergency custody by state Child Protective Services personnel.

When police found the baby girl Saturday afternoon, she was lying on the kitchen floor in a puddle of urine inside the small travel trailer.

The baby was wearing a small shirt but no diaper, Johnson said.

“The baby had feces on her bottom and her legs and was conscious but obviously malnourished,” Johnson said. “The baby’s belly was sunken in and officers could see her ribs. Her eyes were protruding and her face appeared to be sunken.”

The temperature inside the travel trailer was estimated to be at least 100 degrees, Johnson said.