Grandfather of the New Mexico baby tossed into a dumpster by teen mom says it is

The grandfather of the New Mexico baby who was abandoned in a dumpster by his teen mom said his 16-year-old son is the father and his family wants custody of the infant.    

Oscar Astorga, 50, said his son Stephen, 16, had no idea ex-girlfriend Alexis Avila, 18, was pregnant until she gave birth last week and was then caught on camera callously chucking their child into a dumpster behind a shopping center in Hobbs, New Mexico.

Now, in an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com, Astorga has revealed that the family wants custody of the child.

‘Of course we’re trying to get custody,’ Astorga told DailyMail.com. ‘Of course.

‘He is my grandson. That’s why we can’t comment on anything because we’re trying to get my grandson.’

Oscar Astorga, 50, (left) said his family wants custody of their son’s baby after mother Alexis Avila, 18, was arrested for abandoning the child inside a New Mexico dumpster 

The family of Stephen Astorga, (left) 16, said that he had  no idea his former girlfriend Alexis Avila (right) was expecting a baby  

He added that his family has received death threats since the video went viral.  

Text messages exchanged by Stephen and a friend show he believed Avila had miscarried and had no idea he was to become a father until she was arrested for dumping the baby.

Astorga’s family has now hired a lawyer to help them get custody of the baby who is recovering in the care of the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department at a hospital in Lubbock, Texas.

Speaking at his home in Hobbs, Astorga, 50, said the family are pulling out all the stops to get the baby they have named Saul home.

Astorga, who runs a company servicing the local oil and gas industry, told DailyMail.com that the news of the baby had come as a huge shock – and told how his family have received death threats on social media.

Telling of the moment he discovered he had become a grandfather, Astorga said: ‘When you don’t know and then all of a sudden someone calls you? It’s like wow.’

Oscar Astorga was pictured at his Hobbs, New Mexico home. He said his son, Stephen, 16, and his family want custody of the newborn 

The teen, who attended Hobbs High School with Avila, has called his son Saul and is reportedly asking for custody of his son. In messages with a friend, he sounded frustrated and upset by the news

After giving birth, Avila said she ‘panicked.’ She wrapped her son in a towel, placed him in a white plastic bag containing some trash, and a larger black trash bag, and drove around, before throwing the child in the dumpster at the Broadmoor Shopping Center 

He added: ‘I’d like to tell you a lot of things. I’m a God-fearing man. I just can’t comment right now.

‘There’s a lot of people on social media that have been sending death threats to our family. We haven’t done anything wrong. My friend saw them. These people on social media.

‘We have nothing to hide but we can’t comment right now.’

Stephen has said that Avila, whom he had broken up with in August 2021, told him she had miscarried. 

Saul was born in the bathroom of his grandparents’ $104,000 Hobbs home last Friday.

Avila told cops that she had no idea she was…