Mother arrested for abandoning newborn

YORK COUNTY, Va. (WAVY) - An 18-year-old mother turned herself in Saturday after her newborn daughter was found abandoned in a wooded area of the Dandy section of York County.

Viktoria Williams, of the 200 block of Middle Road, is charged with felony child neglect. She is being held at the Virginia Peninsula Regional Jail without bond. Williams declined WAVY.com's request for an interview Sunday.

Document: Affidavit for Search Warrant

A neighbor told WAVY.com she was shocked when she heard Williams was the mother. Joann Burroughs who lives adjacent to the walking trail says she never noticed Williams was pregnant and her parents never mentioned it either.

"She was a nice kid, really perky," said Burroughs. "She was a cheerleader and just your ideal picture of a cheerleader. A smart kid, pleasant to be around, respectful. You couldn't ask for more."

A York County couple discovered the newborn baby girl abandoned in the woods Saturday around 4:30 p.m. while they were walking in the area.

"We were just walking down the path, and we heard a faint cry," Roman Alis told WAVY.com Saturday evening after he and his girlfriend Amanda Moulton found the baby girl.

WAVY.com spoke with Moulton again after Williams was in custody. She was not surprised to hear Williams lived close to the walking trail, just a couple hundred yards away. 

"I figured it was probably someone within the neighborhood, because unless you're from here, you don't even know this is really here," said Moulton.

Doctors say the little girl is expected to be alright and they estimate she is between three days and one week old.

Burroughs says Williams' parents are well respected in the neighborhood.

"When something like this happens you think 'What kind of parents?'" said Burroughs. "But, we know what kind of parents they are. They're fantastic people both of them."

Moulton's stance is no one is in the position to judge. We asked her what she felt when she saw Williams picture for the first time Sunday.

"Just being able to put a face with the situation, if anything, it made it all the more poignant and real," said Moulton. "Like this was a child and this was a mother, so it was more sobering I think."

The  Virginia Safe Haven Law  says babies, up to 14 days old, can be left with an employee at any hospital emergency room or an emergency medical rescue squad.