A 23-year-old cold case involving a newborn who was left for dead on the side of a Johnson County road in 2001 has finally broken. NBC 5’s Meredith Yeomans sits with the original detective on the case.
Investigators have solved a cold case involving the death of “Angel Baby Doe,” a newborn whose body was found on the side of a road near Fort Worth in November 2001, authorities said.
The baby girl’s body was found in Johnson County between the towns of Alvarado and Burleson in November 2001.
According to the Johnson County Sheriff's Office, the infant was likely born alive and outside of a medical facility. She was abandoned on the side of Briar Oaks Road, wrapped in a jacket with her umbilical cord still attached.
Steve Shaw, a retired Johnson County detective, was among the first on the scene.
"I can look at the pictures, and I can probably write you a photo log of all the pictures; it's vivid," said Shaw.
Deputies said a male resident was picking up cans along the street when he found the dead newborn wrapped up in a jacket with her umbilical cord still attached. After Johnson County deputies responded to the scene, they determined the infant was a baby girl, and because her identity was unknown, she was named "Angel Baby Doe."
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The sheriff's office stated that, due to the circumstances surrounding the child's death, investigators concluded that her death was a result of foul play.
Investigators like Shaw followed leads over the years.
"We interviewed a lot of people, got a lot of buccal swabs, no matches whatsoever," recalled Shaw.
Shaw retired in 2017 but continued his quest for justice in the case.
In June 2021, more than 20 years after Angel Baby Doe's death, Johnson County investigators submitted forensic evidence to Othram in The Woodlands, Texas, in hopes of identifying the child with advanced DNA testing.
"Othram scientists successfully developed a DNA profile for the infant and then used Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing® to build a comprehensive DNA profile for the child," the Johnson County Sheriff's Office said in a news release on Tuesday.
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"Othram’s in-house forensic genetic genealogy team then used this profile to conduct extensive genetic genealogy research, ultimately providing new investigative leads to law enforcement."
In 2022, the Sheriff's Office also requested the help of the Texas Attorney General's Cold Case and Missing Persons Unit to investigate new leads.
In September 2023, the Attorney General's Office said DNA taken from "Angel Baby Doe" and Shelby Stotts, 48, indicates Stotts is the baby's biological mother.
"Additional evidence suggests that the child was alive and breathing at the time of her birth and that Stotts is responsible for abandoning the child," the AG's office said in an email Monday.
Stotts was indicted and arrested on Monday.
According to the indictment, "Stotts recklessly caused the death of her newborn daughter by leaving the baby unattended on the side of the road, failing to seek prompt medical care after giving birth, and failing to clamp the baby’s umbilical cord, which caused the child to bleed to death."
She is charged with second-degree manslaughter and remained in the Johnson County jail Tuesday night on a $100,000 bond.
Stotts declined NBC 5's interview request.
Cleburne ISD said Stotts was a paraprofessional at Cleburne High School.
In a statement, the district said, "The Cleburne Independent School District is aware of the arrest and grand jury indictment of Shelby Stotts. Cleburne ISD takes these allegations very seriously. Shelby Stotts is no longer employed by Cleburne ISD. The District intends to follow Board Policy and state law and investigate the matter thoroughly. Because this is a personnel matter, the District is unable to offer more details or comment further, pursuant to state law and board policy.”
