Mother Who Left Her Dead Baby In Dumpster Arrested In Shelby, Closing 37 Year Old Cold Case

RIVERSIDE, C.A. – A 37 year old cold case is finally closed after a California murder suspect was found in North Carolina. On October 13, 1987, a newborn baby was found dead inside a Riverside, California dumpster in a death that would eventually be ruled a homicide. A man found the baby while looking through the bin for recyclables. After the Riverside Police Department failed to find any suspects in this homicide, the case went cold until 2020 when their Homicide Cold Case Unit was formed and the investigation was reopened.

Using DNA evidence, investigators were able to identify the mother of the baby as Melissa Jean Allen Avila. Detectives ruled out the baby’s father after the initial investigation, which turned their attention to Avila, who was 19 at the time of the baby’s death. The U.S. Marshals Pacific Southwest Regional Fugitive Task Force was able to locate Avila in Shelby, North Carolina. She was arrested for murder and extradited back to Riverside County to face prosecution. On August 5th, Avila was booked into the Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility in Banning, California, where she remains on $1,100,000 bail.