Teen Father Arrested After Leaving Infant Daughter Trapped in Scorching Phoenix Apartment With Only Spoiled Milk

A ten-month-old baby girl was discovered strapped in a stroller inside a sweltering 91-degree apartment with no air conditioning, abandoned by her teenage father with nothing but rancid milk within reach.

Andre L. Farris Jr., 19, now faces felony child abuse charges after maintenance workers made the horrifying discovery on July 29 in a Phoenix apartment near 7th Street and Grovers Avenue. The infant had been left completely alone in conditions that could have proven fatal.

The scene maintenance workers encountered was nothing short of neglectful. The helpless baby was restrained in a stroller, unable to move or call for help, with only a baby bottle containing “approximately a quarter-inch of rancid milk” within her grasp. The apartment’s windows stood open while the air conditioning remained switched off—a dangerous combination in Phoenix’s brutal summer heat.

This case represents exactly the kind of parental negligence that demands serious consequences. A baby left alone in near-100-degree temperatures faces life-threatening dehydration and heat stroke within hours. The child was completely defenseless, unable to escape her restraints or seek water.

First responders rushed the infant to a nearby hospital for emergency medical evaluation. Meanwhile, police officers remained at the apartment for nearly two hours, waiting to see if the negligent parent would return home. Farris never showed up.

Apartment management confirmed Farris was the registered tenant on the lease. Family members verified his identity as the biological father, eliminating any doubt about who bore responsibility for this infant’s welfare.

Farris eventually appeared at the hospital later that day—only after his daughter had been rescued by others. Officers arrested him immediately upon his arrival.

As of Thursday, Farris remained in jail on $25,000 bond, awaiting his Wednesday court appearance. The charges he faces are appropriate—this wasn’t simple neglect or an oversight. This was abandonment that placed an infant’s life in immediate danger.

This case underscores a troubling reality about parental responsibility in America today. Bringing a child into the world carries non-negotiable obligations. Those who cannot or will not meet those obligations must face the full weight of the law. This baby girl survived only because maintenance workers happened upon her—pure chance, not parental care.

The justice system must hold Farris fully accountable for endangering his daughter’s life through deliberate abandonment in dangerous conditions.