Mom arrested for abandoning baby on NYC subway platform

NEW YORK (KABC) -- Police have arrested and charged a woman they say pushed her baby's stroller onto a Manhattan subway platform and then got back on the train and left.

The bizarre scene played out at the Columbus Circle station around noon Monday. Police say when the train arrived, witnesses saw the woman simply push a stroller onto the platform. She was seen getting back on the train, leaving the baby behind on the platform.

A 33-year-old witness waited about 20 minutes with the stroller, and when no one came back to claim the little girl, she notified police.

Authorities say 20-year-old Frankea Dabbs, whose last known address is in Raleigh, North Carolina, was picked up by police just after midnight Tuesday after she was spotted by a woman in the vicinity of West 72nd Street and Broadway. The NYPD released surveillance video of the woman about an hour before, and the Good Samaritan recognized her near a Starbucks and alerted an officer.

The officer approached Dabbs, who admitted that she abandoned the infant and confirmed that it was her biological child. She was able to provide the name, medical history and physical description.

Dabbs recently came to New York City, and she apparently decided suddenly that she could no longer take care of the 10-month-old girl, identified as Miliani Edmonds. Dabbs is charged with abandoning a child and committing actions injurious to a child less than the age of 17. The girl was taken to St. Luke's Hospital in stable condition. She is current in the care of the city's Administration for Children's Services.

Police say the infant had some eczema on her cheeks and elbows but was not malnourished.

Dabbs has an active warrant out of North Carolina for marijuana possession. She also had identification indicating she is from California. She told police she arrived in New York City on July 2, that she thought she was leaving Miliani in a safe place, and that the baby's father died recently in California.