South Edmonton barbershop owner says one of his clients discovered dead baby in parking lot

The owner of a south Edmonton barbershop is still in shock after one of his clients discovered a dead baby lying in a snowy parking spot near the business on Saturday.

Harjas Dhaliwal, who owns Gz 2 Gentz Barbershop in a shopping complex on the southwest corner of Ellerslie Road and Parsons Road S.W., said he spotted a box on the ground in the parking lot when he came to work at 10 a.m., but didn't think anything of it.

Hours later, he said, one of his clients left the shop around 2 p.m. and saw a baby lying a couple of centimetres away from a box on the ground, near his parked vehicle.

Nobody was around, Dhaliwal said.

The client returned to the business to report what he saw.

Dhaliwal said he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"I thought maybe it was just a doll sitting there," he said.

Dhaliwal said they called 911 immediately and paramedics arrived within a few minutes.

The baby's body was found in the parking lot of this shopping complex on the southwest corner of Ellerslie Road and Parsons Road S.W. (Craig Ryan/CBC)

Police later asked people working in nearby businesses to leave the scene, he said.

The Edmonton Police Service homicide section is investigating the infant's suspicious death.

Police said in a news release on Saturday that they don't believe the death was connected to any nearby businesses.

Anyone with information about the death is asked to contact police.

Police are also seeking any dash camera footage taken in the area between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. Saturday.

Police did not answer follow-up questions from CBC News about the case on Monday.

According to Saturday's news release, an autopsy is scheduled for Thursday.

Dhaliwal says he can't comprehend what happened.

"It doesn't feel real, still, to this day," he said.