Nine weeks after a baby was found thrown in a Florida dumpster, she has been reunited with her biological father.
And the happiness the baby’s father was feeling was very apparent in a smile that stretched from ear to ear.
Carlos Jimenes Martins spoke to WPBF after getting to take his little girl home for the first time. He said:
“God makes us strong, and we’re very happy.”
According to the Palm Beach Post, Martins revealed that he will be naming his 9-week-old daughter Sarah Jimenez Carvalho.
As WPBF reports, Sarah was born on May 8. That same day, she was found lying in a dumpster after Martins’ girlfriend, Rafaelle Sousa, gave birth at their apartment in Boca Raton, Florida.
According to Martins, he never knew Sousa was pregnant until after she had put Sarah in a garbage bag and placed her in the dumpster located in the parking lot of their apartment.
Sousa remains in custody. She was charged with “two felonies, including attempted murder.”
On Tuesday, July 2, a DNA test confirmed Martins is Sarah’s biological father, making him a father of two.
Martins told WPBF:
“I have to thank God, my community, and everybody who has supported and prayed for me and my family.”
After learning Sarah had been reunited with her father, the good Samaritan who found her in the dumpster that day in May issued a statement to WPBF.
Sergio Vega said:
“I was terrified. We believe the heroes of this story are the 911 dispatcher, the emergency responders, the palm beach county sheriff’s office and detectives and most of all, the baby. We are very happy the baby is healthy and she is full of life.”
According to the Palm Beach Post, Sousa is also the mother of Martins’ eldest child, a 3-year-old boy, who was returned to his care in June.