Dad, prostitute "girlfriend" arrested for abandoning 9-month-old baby in street (San Antonio, Texas)

Excuse me while I try to wrap my head around this. Dad RICHARD MENDOZA takes his 9-month-old son with him to a motel to visit his "girlfriend" (a convicted prostitute). Daddy presumably leaves the baby with the "girlfriend" while he goes out for beer, and when he comes back, the two of them are gone. The baby is later found abandoned in a street with signs of abuse (facial bruising).

So why the hell did Daddy have possession of this infant at all? Did he have visitation or custody? Did he simply take the child? Police won't release information on the whereabouts of the baby's mother. Of course not.

INVISIBLE MOTHER ALERT.

http://www.woai.com/news/local/story/Update-Police-not-sure-who-abandoned-baby-in/YLYqFWOT5kSaEk9VH85oEw.cspx

Update: Police not sure who abandoned baby in street

Last Update: 7:43 am

(News 4 WOAI)
Baby found alone near alley

SAN ANTONIO -- A 9-month-old boy was found abandoned in a street Monday night. The boy's father and the father's girlfriend have been arrested, but investigators are still trying to determine exactly who left the baby in the street.

Police officers found the boy around 11:00 p.m. sitting in the middle of the road right off an alleyway just off Liberty, near the Sunrise Motel on South Presa. The officers said it looked like the baby had been abused. He reportedly had bruises on his head, one on his eye, and some around his face.

The baby's father, 23-year-old Richard Mendoza, and his girlfriend, 43-year-old Martha Alemon, have both been charged with child endangerment. Mendoza told police he was at the motel last night with his baby and Alemon, who is a convicted prostitute. He said he left to to get some beer and when he came back, his son and Alemon were gone.

Witnesses told police they saw Alemon walking with a baby, but investigators said it's still not clear if she's the one who abandoned the boy.

Police haven't released information about the whereabouts of the child's mother.

The baby was checked out at the hospital and is now at the Children's Shelter.