Baby girl abandoned near Newark YMCA; 19-year-old dad sought

NEWARK, New Jersey (WABC) -- Newark police are looking for the father of a baby girl who was found abandoned near the YMCA on Broad Street.

The 5-month-old girl was found unharmed in an narrow alleyway near a home next to the Y by an employee on Monday.

"Why?" YMCA president Michael Bright said. "We're right here. You could've brought her in. It's just a shame. It's a small, innocent life that if we weren't where we were, and we didn't have a heroic staff person that we did, things could've been a lot different."

The worker found the baby, brought her in from the cold and called 911.

"The staff person from the YMCA was leaving work and heard a crying baby," Bright said. "And as he was walking closer to his car, the cries got louder. He went over to the property and went around the side and saw the stroller there with the baby who was covered with a cover over it."

Police called the mother, who came to get her

The baby's father, 19-year-old Coran Kelly, of Irvington, is sought for charges of child endangerment and a $2,000 outstanding theft of services warrant.

"It's sad, unthinkable, being a father," Bright said. "However, most clearly someone is in trouble as well. And the good thing is that the baby is safe. That's the most important part. Everything else can be figured out."

UPDATE: Kelly was arrested without incident on Tuesday, February 7, shortly after 6 p.m., when police received information that he was at a store on Broad Street. He charged with endangering the welfare of a child.