Rosalba Moran (DOB 8/10/92)

VENTURA, CA - District Attorney Gregory D. Totten announced today that a jury found Rosalba Moran (DOB 8/10/92), of Oxnard, guilty of first-degree murder for leaving her newborn baby to die in a ditch at a Camarillo strawberry field in May 2012. Moran was a former employee of the farm where the baby was found and was identified as the mother through DNA testing.

Moran went into an empty field that was surrounded by a locked fence to give birth undetected. She left the baby concealed in the ditch which was two feet below street level, surrounded by heavy brush, and 150 feet from the locked entrance. Before leaving the scene at sundown, Moran recorded a video of the baby on her cell phone, which showed the baby alive and struggling. During the video, Moran separated the baby’s legs to get a close-up view of his genitals. She tried to send the video to the baby’s father in Mexico, whom she said was not willing to help raise the child. Moran used her cell phone to call a family member to pick her up and told no one that the baby was left alive in the field. She returned to her home in Oxnard and never attempted to seek any help for the baby. The baby died from exposure and his body was discovered by a worker three days later.

Sentencing for Moran is scheduled January 7, 2015, at 8:30 a.m. in courtroom 27 of the Ventura Superior Court. Based upon the gravity of the offense, the District Attorney will seek a sentence of 25 years to life in prison.