Angel Baby Doe breakthrough as mother of newborn found dead in Texas cow pasture is arrested after DNA linked her to decades old cold case

Police in Texas have announced a major break in the case of “Angel Baby Doe,” a newborn baby found dead in a pasture more than 20 years ago.

Shelby Stotts, 48, has been arrested for allegedly leaving her baby girl on the side of the road to die in November 2001 after new DNA evidence confirmed she was the child’s mother, the Texas Attorney General’s Missing Persons and Cold Cases Unit said. announced on Monday.

Prosecutors say Stotts, a paraprofessional at Cleburne High School, recklessly caused the girl’s death by abandoning her, failing to provide her with medical care and failing to clamp the child’s umbilical cord, causing the girl to bleed to death.

The young girl’s body was eventually found on November 18, 2001 in Johnson County by a man identified by police as Johnny Riddle, WFAA reports.

Riddle was picking up cans in the area when he saw the newborn, wrapped in a jacket with the umbilical cord still attached, according to Fox 4 News.

He then called local police, who collected evidence from the crime scene, including a broken key ring, a spit cup and a Coke bottle, in the hopes of eventually obtaining DNA.

For years, DNA evidence yielded no leads.

But in 2021, the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office sent the forensic evidence to Othram, a lab in The Woodlands that specializes in solving cold cases.

That laboratory was able to develop a DNA profile of the baby and in September 2023, the Public Prosecution Service was able to identify Stotts as the child’s mother.

Other evidence also showed that the baby, whom police dubbed “Angel Baby Doe,” was alive and breathing at the time of her birth. reports the Dallas Morning News.

‘Angel Baby Doe’ was found in November 2001, wrapped in a jacket with the umbilical cord still attached

“After more than 20 years, we are closer to obtaining justice for Angel Baby Doe and ensuring that the person responsible for this tragedy is held accountable,” said Attorney General Ken Paxton.

“I am grateful for the talent and tenacity of our investigators and I am thankful to the law enforcement professionals at the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office for their dedication to uncovering the truth.”

Stotts was eventually booked into the Johnson County Jail on Monday and will face charges under laws that were in place in 2001.

As of Tuesday morning, no bail had been set for Stotts and it was unclear whether she had retained an attorney to speak on her behalf.

Meanwhile, the Cleburne Independent School District announced that she was no longer working at the high school.

“Cleburne ISD takes these allegations very seriously,” district officials told Fox 4, adding that they “intend to follow board policy and state law and thoroughly investigate the matter.”