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Mom Arrested After Abandoning Baby on Subway Platform, NYPD Says

By  Murray Weiss and Aidan Gardiner | July 8, 2014 7:55am | Updated on July 8, 2014 2:18pm

Frankea Aleasha-Dabbs
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Composite with DNAinfo/Gustavo Solis and NYPD

MANHATTAN — A homeless North Carolina woman was arrested on the Upper West Side after she abandoned her baby girl on a Columbus Circle subway platform Monday afternoon, sources said.

Frankea Aleasha-Dabbs, a 20-year-old from Raleigh, was seen on 71st Street and Broadway about midnight by a passer-by who recognized her from security footage and told a nearby police officer, sources said.

Aleasha-Dabbs faced charges of abandonment of a child and acting in manner injurious to a child under 17 after she left her 10-month-old daughter, Milini Edmonds, on the uptown platform before hopping on a 1 train and riding away 12 hours earlier, sources said.

Aleasha-Dabbs, who recently arrived in New York, admitted to investigators she abandoned her child on the subway platform and that she was overwhelmed by the amount of care the child required, according to court papers and sources.

After Milini was abandoned, a witness called police who brought the girl to St. Luke's hospital for observation, police said.

Milini had eczema rashes on her face and elbow along with bandages on her hands but showed no signs of abuse, sources said. She was taken into the care of the Administration for Children's Services Tuesday, the NYPD said.

Investigators Monday night released photos of Milini and Aleasha-Dabbs in the hope of identifying either one of them.

The security footage showed Aleasha-Dabbs in a white tank top and large black sunglasses push a pink stroller through an emergency exit gate near the turnstiles of the 42nd Street station about 11:37 a.m., police said.

She was held without bail after being arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court Tuesday night.