A Tragedy Without Malice

As psychotic thugs threaten to destroy a school full of Russian children, it's kind of a relief stumbling on the small miracle to counter the mass horror. It's not a happy story, but nevertheless tinged with good fortune.

Baby survives 5 days next to dad's body
Associated Press

AUSTIN - Certain that the baby he found next to her dead father had also died, Officer Blain Eiben began to back away. Then something made him stop.

"Something changed my mind, and I said 'no, I need to check her pulse,' " he said Wednesday. "I barely felt a pulse, and she barely kicked a leg."

Six-month-old Asia McCoy, who somehow survived alone for five days, was in critical condition Wednesday at Brackenridge Hospital. She was discovered Sunday on a bathroom floor near the decomposing body of Willard McCoy, 41. His death is being investigated but not as a homicide.

Eiben believes he witnessed a miracle.

"After thinking about it, I think God was in that house that day. How could a baby survive that? He had to be there," said Eiben, who describes himself as religious but no fanatic. "I definitely think it's a miracle."

Asia was discovered when police responded to a welfare call after neighbors hadn't seen her or her father for days.

"They were getting worried and calling his cell phone, paging him, going over to the door and he would never answer, until Saturday and Sunday they noticed a smell and flies," neighbor Angela Sales said.

Eiben and Officer Doug Drake found the odor so foul that they could not stay in the house without gas masks. Eiben spotted Asia between the legs of her father, encrusted with fluid.

"There are telltale signs that somebody is dead," said Eiben, an officer for nine years. "I stood there looking at her, her chest was not raising at all. Her eyes were glazed over."

Drake was outside the home, retrieving his gas mask.

"Officer Eiben enters with his gas mask," Drake said, "and less than a minute in there and he comes running out holding a baby."

He and Drake cleaned out the infant's nose and mouth, poured water on her and rubbed her back until she started making noise. "Come on baby, come on baby, breathe please," they pleaded in calm tones.

"Whatever we could, trying to soothe her, comfort her," Eiben said. "The baby had been through a lot, I can't even imagine what it would be like to lay there in that condition for five days. We were doing everything we could to soothe her and not to put any more trauma on her."

The Fire Department arrived and took over.

"They had things going real good," Eiben said. "They were giving her oxygen, they got some towels from a neighbor to warm her back up, raise up her body temperature. Those guys jumped right in."

Drake said he hasn't yet had a chance to sort out what happened.

"There have been several moments since that time that I stopped and thought about it," he said. "I don't think all the elements of that day have come together yet."

Child Protective Services has custody of Asia and will place her with a foster home at least initially, spokesman Aaron Reed said. The agency has identified family members who might be appropriate to take care of her, Reed said.

Asia was in CPS custody as a newborn but then a judge ordered that McCoy be given custody of her about three months ago, Reed said.

"It was not our recommendation that the child return home," Reed said. Another agency spokesman, Geoff Wool, said CPS was concerned about McCoy's ability to provide for the child.

Wool said Asia's mother was incarcerated when Asia was born.

CPS monitored Asia while she was in McCoy's custody.

"She was doing quite well," Reed said.

A caseworker visited Asia once a week for eight weeks and then once a month. The last visit was Aug. 14 and everything appeared to be fine, Reed said.

"Clearly this is a tragedy but it could have been much worse if this child had died," Reed said