Infant body found after mother arrested, charged with planning his death

SALT LAKE CITY — An infant’s body has been located after the mother was charged with planning his death and disposing of his body next to Interstate 80 near Parleys Canyon. She is currently being held in Wasatch County Jail.

Estrella Meza Ojeda, 18, was arrested on the weekend of Sept. 23 and questioned by authorities. Ojeda first claimed the infant had been taken to Guerro, Mexico to live with her mother. Police were unable to corroborate her story because Ojeda claimed the phone numbers for her mother and sister in Mexico were not working.

Several search warrants were served, exposing Ojeda’s search history, indicating she was planning to kill her son.

After the investigation when Ojeda was questioned again, she confessed to becoming overwhelmed with taking care of a premature infant. She said she took her son to a grocery store on Sept. 10, and went without the oxygen tank she was told by the infant’s hospital multiple times that he needed to stay alive. Ojeda said that she believed her son was asleep at the store, but realized when she returned home and took him out of the car that he was actually not breathing.

Ojeda led police to the area where she left the body, where authorities found the blanket she had left his body in, but the body was not immediately found. As of Oct. 1, the Unified Police Department has stated they have located the body, but have not given detail as to the search or specific area it was found.

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If you or anyone you know is struggling to care for an infant or child, there are resources to help. Utah’s Safe Haven Law offers resources and a place for parents to surrender children they may be unable to care for. 

Related: Mother charged with aggravated murder after disappearance of infant