Ore. dad pleads guilty to leaving newborn daughter in recycling bin after she died

PORTLAND, Ore. (TCN) -- A 53-year-old man entered a plea deal with prosecutors this week for leaving his newborn child's body in a commercial recycling bin after she died.

Multnomah County court records show Alnath Oliver pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide on Friday, July 19. Prosecutors dropped charges of second-degree manslaughter, criminal mistreatment, and rape. The Oregonian/Oregon Live reports a judge sentenced Oliver to four years in prison.

Oliver reportedly said in court that he pleaded guilty to prevent the child’s mother from having to sit through the trial. According to The Oregonian/Oregon Live, Oliver said, "It was very important that she understood that none of this was her fault and that I would be taking full responsibility for everything. From the moment my daughter passed, I knew that this was something I was going to face."

On the morning of May 28, 2013, Portland Police Bureau officers responded to EFI Recycling after receiving a report that workers found a newborn with her umbilical cord still attached. The medical examiner conducted an autopsy and concluded the infant was African American or mixed race and was born full-term. Her death was ruled a homicide. Police shared a photo of her handprints and footprints "as part of an emotional plea for information."

The victim became known as "Baby Precious." She was buried at a church cemetery June 28, 2013, but her identity remained a mystery.

The case went cold until 2019 when Portland Police Cold Case Unit reopened the investigation. Detective Brendan McGuire sent some of Baby Precious' DNA to a lab for forensic genealogy testing, but there was no immediate lead. Two years later, McGuire received information that familial DNA had been found. That DNA, however, came from an anonymous source.

A year and a half later, McGuire managed to identify the child’s parents. Baby Precious' name was Amara.

Oliver was arrested and charged in September 2023.

The Oregonian/Oregon Live reports Amara’s mother was 15 years old when she gave birth. Her family reportedly did not know she was pregnant, and she had the child at Oliver’s apartment.

Oliver reportedly told the mother that he would leave Amara at a fire station or hospital, but when he left to take her, she became unresponsive. He then left Amara in a recycling bin.

Amara's mother reportedly did not know the little girl never made it to the hospital.