Police used shoebox to track mother of newborn left in garbage tote
By Aaron Besecker
News Staff Reporter
Updated: September 23, 2008, 3:34 PM
Buffalo homicide detectives tracked down the 19-year-old Lackawanna woman accused of dumping her newborn baby inside a shoebox and in a garbage tote by tracking footwear the suspect bought on the Internet, two sources close to the case said today.
The shoebox holding the dead newborn was traced by its make to Alicia Zebrun's address.
Zebrun gave birth to the baby girl in her Linden Place home and discarded it within 24 hours, the sources said.
Zebrun was arrested and charged with second-degree murder on Monday night.
She was ordered held without bail during her arraignment this afternoon in front of City Court Judge Craig D. Hannah.
Family members and friends inside the courtroom wept during the proceeding.
Police said the newborn's body was found at about 12:50 p.m. Friday by a person looking for empty soda cans near the South Park Golf Course on Hopkins Street near Botanical Gardens Drive.
The body was in a purple and gray box that contained shoes believed to be popular with fast-food workers. That pair of black shoes was confiscated at Zebrun's home, police said.
The place where the body was found is less than two miles from Zebrun's aqua-colored house, which sits on a dead-end street a block from Electric Avenue.
A family member at the house would not speak with a reporter this morning, though neighbors said Alicia and her two sisters had a strong upbringing.
"I don't understand how it happened with them because they're excellent parents," said Tammy Gatzke, who lives a few houses away and said she grew up with Alicia's older sister.
The family, which included a mother and stepfather, had strict rules for their children, and were pushing them toward college, Tammy Gatzke said.
Gatzke said she remembered going to the Zebruns' house as a child, making cookies and attending Halloween parties.
Debbie Gatzke, Tammy's mother-in-law, said it's hard to understand what would make a mother leave her child to die.
Gatzke said there are options available nearby for mothers who can't or don't want to take care of a child, including a nearby fire hall and Queen of Angels Catholic Church where Zebrun could have sought help.
"There's people that can't have babies and really want babies," Debbie Gatzke added. Another neighbor, who did not want to be identified, said her child went to school with Alicia at Truman Elementary, as well as Lackawanna Middle and High schools.
"She was always a good kid," the woman said. "I would never have expected this with her."
Zebrun is scheduled to return to court on Friday for a felony hearing.
Assistant District Attorney James F. Bargnesi has been assigned to prosecute the case.