Mother of Abandoned Baby in a Box Arrested

The mother of a baby girl found alive in a box on a cold December day last year in Philadelphia is in police custody and will be charged with attempted murder.

Police issued an arrest warrant last week for Patricia "Dina" Crawley, 33.

Crawley is accused of leaving her newborn baby girl outside the Rainbow Daycare on 27th and Huntingdon Streets. The infant was wrapped in a blanket and robe.

She was discovered on Dec. 21, 2011 by two men cleaning the streets. One of them picked up the cardboard box to place it near a trash pile and that's when he heard the baby start to cry, police said. 

The baby was taken to St. Christopher's Hospital where she was named Baby Noel by hospital workers. When the case was first reported, there was an outpouring of support from people asking to adopt Baby Noel and to make donations. Right now she is in foster care.

Philadelphia police said they determined Crawley was Baby Noel's mother through DNA testing. She was one of many women brought in for questioning in January, police said. They took a mouth swab from her at the time and found out last Monday that it was a match.

"Everybody around here remembers her being pregnant and then she disappeared for awhile," said Abdullah Sabor, who says Crawley has been a casual acquaintance for six years. "Then she came back and her belly was gone."

Investigators say Crawley has had drug-related run-ins with police. Police sources also say she's the mother of two children, ages 10 and 14, who live with their father.

"If she didn't want the baby all she could've done was take it to the hospital," said Shonda Debnam, Crawley's neighbor. "That's all she had to do. She didn't have to put the baby in the box. The baby wasn't asked to be brought here."

Police say Crawley will be charged with Attempted Murder, Aggravated Assault and related charges.