The mum who abandoned her baby girl on a New York subway platform felt she 'couldn't take care of the child' after seeing the girl's father shot dead.
CCTV footage caught Frankea Dabbs, 20, wheeling her 10-month-old daughter, Milani Edmonds, onto a train platform in her pram.
Moments later, the mother boarded a train and then pushed the buggy onto the platform, before she leapt back onboard.
The child was cared for by a commuter until police arrived. Ms Dabbs was arrested and charged with child abandonment and on Tuesday she appeared at Manhattan Criminal Court.
Relatives said that Ms Dabbs, who was homeless after arriving in New York on July 2, had been plagued with troubles in North Carolina, including possible mental health issues and witnessing the killing of her baby's father.
NYPD spokesman Stephen Davis said: "She felt she couldn't take care of the baby and thought she was leaving her in a safe public space."
Her father Franklin Dabbs told the New York Daily News that Ms Dabbs was forced to cower under the bed in their home in Clinton, North Carolina, as masked intruders shot the father of her baby dead.
He said: "She was there hiding under the bed. I told her, 'It could have been you'."
Relatives said they also believed Ms Dabbs was battling mental health issues and said she was recently kicked out of her stepfather's home for insisting on always having the lights switched off.
Her aunt Lawanna Edmonds said: "Stuff is wrong with Frankea's mind. She walks around with dark shades... She even sleeps in dark shades."
Online records and mug shots also show she has previously been arrested for possession of marijuana, assaulting an officer, breaking and entering and solicitation for prostitution.
The baby was then taken to St Luke's Roosevelt hospital for evaluation before she was handed over to the NYC Administration for Children's Services.
She had a rash on her face and bandages on her hand but is said to be in good health.