LOVINGTON, N.M. — "No justice. No peace." That was the chant outside the Lea County courthouse after Alexis Avila's pre-trial detention hearing. A group of roughly 50 or so protesters believe that Avila should await her trial from jail, not her home.
In a case such as this, in which Avila dumped her newborn into a dumpster, emotions have been running high ever since the baby was found. However, the judge in the courtroom wanted no part of it, demanding that there be no outbursts after his decision was made.
Avila was granted house arrest with several stipulations. She is required to wear a GPS ankle monitor and is not allowed to leave her house except for school, work, doctor appointments, counseling sessions, or church if her parents attend.
If Avila is found leaving her house for any other reason, she will be arrested and remain in jail until the trial.
Overall, it's a decision the defense team is pleased with, saying, "We are grateful for the court's decision today."
However, in the court of public opinion, Avila should be placed behind bars.
"We have a hearing today where we had some hope, and I commend the DA and the ADA’s office for asking for this detainment. I feel like the judge ruled wrong. I feel like the defense attorney’s argument was flawed," Kimberly Fields, one of the protest's organizers, said.
That was one reason why the group protested outside the courthouse. Since Avila's arrest, she spent just over an hour in jail before getting out on bond.
"We got a girl who left her child for dead and threw it in the trash can and put it in with other trash, getting out in an hour on a $10,000 bond and not paying anything but just a signature," Fields said. "You can’t show a pattern with her unless we give her five more babies to throw away. I think the one that we almost lost if not for the three Hobbs angels if not for them. She left him for dead. [The judge] should have detained her."
The life of the newborn baby makes this a high stakes case. Fields is trying to make sense of it all.
"I can’t imagine. I’m a mother. I’ve had a child, it’s a bonding experience. What the baby feels, what did that baby feel like upside down or front ways forward? That was their first introduction to this life," Fields said.