Man sentenced to 4 years in prison for 2013 'Baby Precious' homicide

The man who left his newborn daughter in a recycling bin over ten years ago was sentenced to four years in prison on Friday.

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) -- The man who left his newborn daughter in a recycling bin over ten years ago was sentenced to four years in prison on Friday.

53-year-old Alnath Omar Oliver plead guilty to criminally negligent homicide after killing the baby girl before putting her body in a commercial bin at the EFI Recycling Center in May 2013.

For a decade, her case was a mystery, with the girl becoming known as "Baby Precious." Community members even helped plan a memorial service for the girl, where people from across the area attended.

The Portland Police Bureau’s Cold Case Unit reopened the investigation in 2019. Officials said an anonymous source tipped them off to a family connection in December 2021, but investigators spent the next year and a half identifying the baby as well as her parents.

When DNA evidence surfaced back in September 2023, along came the baby's real name: Amara.

This also eventually led them to Oliver, who was then indicted by a Multnomah County jury on charges of concealing the birth of an infant, third-degree rape, two counts of second-degree manslaughter and two counts of first-degree criminal mistreatment.

“From the moment the defendant was aware of the pregnancy, he prevented the mother from seeking any medical care, prenatal care or other, including after, in the immediate, she gave birth on his floor and he prevented her from seeking any medical attention,” said Portland Police Det. Brendan McGuire at a press conference. “He then took the child from his apartment and in the course of walking to the hospital, the baby passed. When he found the baby unresponsive, he refused to take the baby to the hospital."

The case also serves as a reminder of Oregon’s Safe Haven Law where a baby up to 30 days old can be left with an employee at any medical facility, hospital, birthing center, police station or fire station in Oregon.