NEWAYGO COUNTY, Mich. -- There are new details emerging after a newborn was found abandoned alongside a rural Newaygo County road this week.
Court documents reveal that investigators believe the mother is a 15-year-old girl that lives across the street from where the newborn was found.
The documents also list a possible father of the infant, who has been identified as a 14-year-old boy. The boy said that he had no idea that he was connected to this situation until a sheriff’s deputy knocked on his door.
"They told me straight to my face that I was listed as the father," said Thomas Coxsen.
Coxsen, who is listed as a potential father in the documents, said earlier in the week investigators paid him a visit, asking him questions about his relationship with a 15-year-old girl who admitted to giving birth early monday morning. The teen mom admits to leaving the baby on the side of this road outside her home near White Cloud.
Denying any sexual relationship with the infant's mother, Coxsen said that he’s agreed to take a paternity test to clear his name.
"I'm not the father. I don't know why they keep accusing me being the father. I've never had sex with her. I mean she was like my little sister, so I don't know why they keep accusing me of it," said Coxsen.
Investigators said that the teenage girl denied giving birth at first, but other evidence in the home led to further questioning with the teenager later admitting she’d given birth outside the home near a fire pit. She admitted that she set the baby on a patch of grass near her home, hoping someone would find the newborn. About five hours later, a neighbor walking his daughter’s dog made the discovery and called police.
Luckily, witnesses described the baby as healthy and were just thankful the infant was still alive.
Coxsen’s family said that if he was the father, they would have stepped up to care for the child.
"If he was the father, and their family didn't take care of her, our family would definitely take in the baby no matter what. That's how our family is. You know, we've got a real strong family structure," said Coxsen's brother Jim Carlson.
Coxsen said that he’s confident he will be cleared, and said that no one around the teen girl knew she was pregnant.
"Take the DNA test and when it proves that I'm not the dad, I'll be done with it," said Coxsen
Coxsen said that he’s waiting for a letter in the mail with the date and time for his paternity test.
As for the baby girl, the Newaygo County Sheriff’s Office said that she is planned to spend just a couple more days in a Grand Rapid’s hospital before being released to the care of Child Protective Services.
Stay with FOX 17 updates regarding any possible charges in the case.
