Baby Hope Case: Mother arrested 19 years later in South Texas

MEDINA COUNTY, Texas — A lady has been arrested and charged with the homicide of her toddler daughter greater than 19 years after the infant child’s stays have been came upon along a rural Medina County street, government say. 

Maricela Frausto, 44, is now dealing with a fee of capital homicide. She’s jailed on a $1 million bond, and if launched can be required to put on a GPS track. 

According to the Hondo Anvil Herald, the place of origin paper of report, a neighborhood landowner discovered the frame of the infant – later named “Baby Hope Medina” through the investigators who labored the crime scene – close to a fence alongside County Road 448, outdoor the City of Hondo in Medina County, in September of 2004. 

According to printed stories on the time, the child woman used to be born alive, consistent with post-mortem effects. 

“We worked it like you would work a crime scene, except it was a little doll, a little newborn baby, so it hit home,” said Medina County Sheriff Randy Brown. “That’s not our normal here, so it hit maybe a little different than some of the other cases would do.”

(*19*) stated in a remark that the arrest fulfilled a 19-year promise that “we would find who was responsible for this horrible, horrible crime.” 

“Many hands have touched this case, all with one goal: to know why and who was responsible for dumping this beautiful little girl on the side of a county road,” Brown’s remark reads. “The days, the months, the years and all the hours spent on this case do not equal the amount of love and compassion the community poured out for Baby Hope Medina.”

Brown says, as time has handed, he feels pleased with the way in which his group used to be in a position to cross the torch ahead so the investigation by no means wavered.

“There are people who have retired since this case started. From that night, that evening on that county road, anytime we commit to something we usually find out that we cross that finish line. There was a commitment made, a promise that day, and we have crossed that finish line,” Brown stated.

Brown says all his group contributors who’ve taken oaths to serve over the years are proud that they’ve been in a position to talk for a small soul silenced too quickly.

“Baby Hope never had an opportunity to speak. Never learned how. So we were her voice and we have spoken,” Brown says.

Brown says Frausto is the organic mom of the child, however he declined to elaborate at the specifics associated with any proof of ways the child ended up useless and dumped.

Brown says DNA proof is what ended in this second. 

“It’s funny in these types of cases, because the ah-ha moment can come in an envelope. You’re like, ‘Holy smoke!’ There it is. The DNA and the work those people do is a very big part in the arrest of the biological mother of Baby Hope,” Brown says.

After the lengthy stay up for justice, the sheriff stated the instant of the arrest used to be calm. 

“We pulled up and she was just told, ‘Hey, you are under arrest. You’ve been indicted.’ And she cooperated. We brought her to the jail.”

With regard to an explanation about what happened to the tiny girl, Brown says Frausto failed to offer any clues. 

“She has an attorney,” he said, “so we’ll save that for the DA’s office.”

In September, the Medina County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) held a memorial provider to commemorate the nineteenth anniversary of Baby Hope’s discovery. Brown stated many on his group took the time to depend the times. 

“It’s been a long time: 19 years, two months and one day, yesterday,” Brown stated, including, “We gathered for her birthday just the other day and said a little prayer so she knows she has not been forgotten, but we will probably all lay our heads on our pillows and sleep a little better.”

Pausing to mirror at the response in his middle, Brown stated: “A lot of tears, the time and hours and stuff spent, I guess it’s kind of like you made it to the top of the mountain because we are the voice for Baby Hope. We are her family, and proud to be so.”

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