Coroner: Woman found dead gave birth along Yakima Greenway path, child is a ‘miracle baby’

David Mann by David Mann

GoFundMe

YAKIMA, Wash. – A Yakima woman found dead along the Greenway path next to her newborn baby on Wednesday has been identified as 31-year-old Shaya Ball, according to Yakima County Coroner Jim Curtice.

The coroner said that Ball gave birth on the Greenway before she died. The infant was found unconscious in a tote bag near her body.

Yakima police officers responded to the scene, located east of the water waste treatment plant near the Yakima River, around 2:30 p.m. Wednesday. They were able to revive the infant with CPR.

Police spokesman Randy Beehler said the woman had likely been deceased for several hours.

On Friday morning, Curtice said the child is doing well, describing the child as a “miracle baby.”

The woman’s cause of death cannot be determined until toxicology tests are completed, which could take about six weeks, Curtice said.

A GoFundMe page created by a woman who claims to be Ball’s sister says that Ball was a loving, caring and strong person and a mother of nine children.