Woman charged after dead baby found in her closet

When 23-year-old Claudia Cortes arrived by ambulance at Ben Taub on Sunday morning, nurses at the hospital noticed that she looked like she had just given birth — but Cortes insisted she hadn't. So police went to her apartment in the 5100 block of South Willow to check things out and were shocked by what they found: what seemed to be a full-term newborn baby was hidden in a closet in the apartment. Now Cortes has been charged with tampering with evidence and police are trying to figure out exactly what's going on.

Officials aren't saying much about the case at this point, but the baby's body is now in the custody of the medical examiner's office, which KTRK reports is investigating to determine whether the baby was born alive or was stillborn. Cortes is still in Ben Taub in fair condition; according to KHOU, she has a 7-year-old child who may be out of the country. Neighbors told Channel 11 that Cortes hadn't looked pregnant.