Edmonds said his family is unaware of any connections she had to the St. Louis area or even the Midwest.

“She was a good person with a good heart,” he said. “She had issues that she didn’t really know how to deal with.”

In July 2014, Dabbs, then 20, was arrested and charged after surveillance video captured her abandoning her daughter on a subway platform. She had pushed her daughter’s stroller through the open door of a stopped subway car and stayed aboard as the train rushed away.

Some New York media dubbed her the “Subway Mom” and reported that she had sometimes worked as a prostitute.

Edmonds, of Roanoke Rapids, N.C., said Dabbs had taken good care of the child, who was in good health when it happened. The daughter is in the care of Dabbs’ large family, he said.

He said news reports had “distorted” his niece’s character.

“There was no doubt that she took care of that baby,” Edmonds said.