Taylour Sierra Dickinson appearing in court on July 9, 2025 (KTVN).
A 28-year-old mother in Nevada has been arrested and accused of abandoning her newborn son in a dumpster earlier this month, allegedly claiming she did so because she not have the resources to care for the child.
Taylour Sierra Dickinson was taken into custody last week and charged with one count of attempted murder and one count of first-degree child abuse, neglect, or endangerment, records reviewed by Law&Crime show. According to the Washoe County District Attorney”s Office, Dickinson left the minutes-old baby in a garbage bag inside of an apartment complex dumpster in the early morning hours of July 5. The child was rescued by a passerby who heard the newborn crying and notified authorities.
“This case has deeply affected our community and our Office,” Washoe County Sheriff Darin Balaam said in a statement. “We are grateful for the brave citizen who intervened – truly a hero whose actions saved this baby’s life – and for the work of our detectives in identifying and arresting those responsible for causing harm to this child. While we cannot undo the trauma, we do pursue justice for our most vulnerable citizens. Thank you to our partners who have and will help ensure the best possible outcome for this little boy.”
The sheriff’s office said the victim was “healthy and doing well” following the incident and confirmed the charges against Dickinson immediately after her arrest. However, the agency initially did not disclose additional details about the case, citing the “sensitive nature of this incident and the involvement of a minor.”
Authorities did provide additional details during Dickinson’s bond hearing last week.
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Washoe County Sheriff’s Detective Claire Hoops-Adams testified in court last week that the child is believed to have been born at about 2:30 a.m. on July 5, and was placed in the dumpster at about 3:33 a.m. that same morning, the Reno Gazette Journal reported. The detective said investigators obtained video surveillance footage from the area showing Dickinson placing the garbage bag in the dumpster.
Dickson reportedly told the detective that she did not know she was pregnant until she gave birth to the boy in a bathroom, using a towel to retrieve the baby from the toilet.
“According to her, the infant was wrapped completely in the towel and placed in the garbage bag,” Hoops-Adams reportedly said. “In her panic, she thought that was her best option.”
Dickinson, whose two other kids are 4 and 10 years old, allegedly said “she had no desire to have any more children, stating her family financially was living paycheck to paycheck at that point.” She also claimed she put the baby in the dumpster with the hope that a passerby would find him.
During the hearing, prosecutors also brought up a previous instance in which Dickinson allegedly left another child in a dumpster two years ago.
“The incident occurred in 2023 with the Defendant alleging that she had suffered a miscarriage and left the baby in a dumpster at a different apartment complex,” a spokesperson for the DA’s office said in a video posted to its Facebook page. “Due to the facts, circumstances, and evidence, no case was submitted to the district attorney’s office for prosecution by the investigating agency at that time, nor were charges filed.”
That child did not survive, the Reno Gazette Journal reported.
Dickinson is currently being held at the Washoe County Jail on $1 million cash-only bond, records show. She is currently scheduled to appear in court again on the afternoon of July 23.
