Authorities in Houston are on the hunt for a 24-year-old Harris County woman accused of abandoning her infant son on the doorstep of a residence and failing to return for him.
Loretta Norwood faces one felony count of child abandonment, according to court documents. The incident unfolded on March 21 when a woman named Loretta Sam alerted police after discovering an 8½-month-old baby boy alone in a car seat outside her porch gate around 6 a.m.
Upon finding the infant, Sam brought him inside before authorities took him to Memorial Hermann Southeast Hospital for evaluation. While doctors reported that the baby was in generally good health, they noted that he was not reaching behavioral milestones typical for a child his age. Subsequently, the child was placed in the custody of Child Protective Services.
Court records indicate that the baby’s father, Ismael ‘Halo’ Hailey, received a text message at 12:50 a.m. on March 21, stating, “Your son outside, tell your mom to get him. Don’t leave your son outside. He is there. After the DNA, you can get his papers. Better get your son from out because he there Halo.”
Hailey claimed he didn’t see the message until 8 a.m. that same morning and expressed uncertainty about the child’s paternity. Family members confirmed Norwood’s identity and her connection to the abandoned infant, adding that she had recently posted bail on a robbery charge in Fort Bend County.
Surveillance footage obtained by investigators captured Norwood walking near Hailey’s mother’s residence around 12:10 a.m., carrying a car seat. She could be heard crying and engaging in a verbal exchange with a man believed to have driven her to the location in a white, four-door sedan. The footage shows Norwood placing the infant, still in the car seat, near Hailey’s mother’s home before departing in the white sedan around 12:12 a.m.
Authorities urge anyone with information on Norwood’s whereabouts or the incident to come forward.
