Alexee Trevizo, a high school cheerleader who was charged with first-degree murder after allegedly admitting to putting the body of a newborn baby in a hospital trash can, may not face any criminal charges.
In 2024, the New Mexico Fifth Judicial District Court ruled that all comments made by Trevizo while in her hospital bed, as well as surveillance video showing her inside the hospital and any body camera footage captured by police, were inadmissible in court because they were protected by doctor-client privilege.
This decision effectively ended the prosecution’s case against Trevizo, and the state promptly filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court, arguing that conversations the teenager had in her hospital room with her mother and medical staff while in the presence of law enforcement should be admissible in court.
The defense successfully argued in district court that Trevizo was not read her Miranda rights prior to those conversations, but Assistant Solicitor General Michael Thomas stated on Thursday, Sept. 4, that she did not need to be Mirandized because police were not interviewing her at the time.
Trevizo also “waived any privilege when she made statements in the presence of her mother and law enforcement agents,” according to the state’s amicus brief.
Defense attorneys also successfully argued before the district court that Trevizo’s rights were violated when officers wearing body cameras entered a room where she was receiving medical treatment.
In their amicus brief, the state stated that Trevizo “was not under arrest or restraint when she made that admission” and that “the exchange between [Trevizo] and the physician did not rise to the level of police interrogation.”
Thomas also stated on Thursday that Trevizo was free to leave the room at any time and was not being detained by police, prompting one of the justices to question whether the teenager would have known given the number of law enforcement officers present, as well as the armed police officers who later stood guard outside her hospital room door.
At this time, the hospital’s initial reports of a possible crime to police are the only admissible evidence in the case.
However, all of this could change once the Supreme Court rules.
Trevizo’s lawyer argued on Thursday that reversing the district court decision could have far-reaching consequences, potentially violating the privacy rights of all individuals seeking medical treatment in the state.
Trevizo arrived at Artesia General Hospital early on January 27, 2023, complaining of severe back pain.
Staff began testing the high school senior and administering morphine to alleviate her pain while they awaited her results.
Trevizo then allegedly left her hospital room to use the bathroom, returned to her bed, and said nothing.
A member of the hospital’s cleaning crew later went to clean the bathroom and informed officers from the Artesia Police Department that the trash bag felt “heavy,” so she looked inside and discovered the body of a newborn baby.
Staff alerted police to a possible crime, as required by law, and at least one officer arrived at the hospital in time to capture a conversation between Trevizo, her mother, the charge nurse, and the doctor on his body camera.
According to the amicus brief, Dr. Heather Vaskas informed Trevizo, “We discovered a dead baby in the bathroom.” Trevizo then allegedly stated, “I’m sorry, it came out of me, and I didn’t know what to do.”
After learning that a newborn had been discovered in the trash can of the bathroom her daughter had just used, Trevizo’s mother inquired, “How big is the baby?”
According to the amicus brief, the charge nurse then informed her that the baby appeared to be “full term,” causing Trevizo to allegedly exclaim, “Nothing was crying.”
Trevizo is then asked by her mother, “Where did you put the baby? Tell the truth. “You placed it in the bag?”
According to the amicus brief, Trevizo confirmed that she put the newborn in the bag, and her mother then asked, “What bag?”
Her daughter allegedly responded with “the trash bag.”
The district attorney’s office filed charges against Trevizo based on that conversation, which was captured on body camera, as well as video footage from hospital security cameras that showed Trevizo entering and later exiting the bathroom where the newborn was found.
All of the evidence is now inadmissible.
In their brief, the state also attempted to overturn the district court’s decision on security camera footage, arguing that “video of the hallway was of a public place accessible in the hospital to others, without any patient-physician privilege.”
Trevizo maintained that the baby was stillborn and was allowed to return home and complete her school year until the autopsy report revealed that the child had air in his lungs and evidence of a hemorrhage consistent with hypoxia.
According to prosecutors, the finding contradicts Trevizo’s alleged claim to hospital staff that the baby was not breathing.
She was arrested on May 10, 2023 and charged with first-degree murder.
Prosecutors argued against pretrial release, but the judge granted it. Trevizo went to prom and planned to walk in her high school graduation while awaiting trial for murder, but her school requested that she not attend.
The judge also allowed her to attend college, where students eventually started a petition demanding her expulsion from campus.
Trevizo’s lawyer previously told PEOPLE that she is not guilty of any crimes and that she did not realize she was pregnant until she gave birth in the hospital bathroom.
