Man charged with abandoning month-old baby on front porch, police say

WACO, Texas (KWTX) - A Waco man remains jailed after Lacy Lakeview police say he left a 1-month-old baby unattended on the front porch of the child’s mother’s home on Nov. 28.

Merquez Bershawn James, 35, was jailed Wednesday in lieu of $10,000 bond on a second-degree felony charge of abandoning/endangering a child with no intent to return.

Police were called to the 200 block of North Lakeview Drive about 2 p.m. Nov. 28 after the child’s mother reported James called her to say he was dropping off the child. The woman told James she was not home, but James reportedly left the child sitting in a car seat on the front porch.

Officers watched doorbell camera footage that showed James leaving the child unattended on the porch, according to an arrest affidavit.

“Officers were on the scene for over 30 minutes and the defendant did not come back in temperatures of 61 degrees, with a ‘feels like’ temperature of 51 degrees due to wind chill,” police alleged in arrest documents.

The mother told police she called James several times to go back and get the child, but he did not, the affidavit alleges. The affidavit does not explain James’ relationship to the child.

Second-degree felonies are punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

Copyright 2025 KWTX. All rights reserved.