A mother in Los Angeles was taken into custody after her young daughter was found dead in a dumpster.
The LAPD confirmed to Us that the baby’s body was found in the trash receptacle around 10:30 p.m. on Monday, September 28, in South Los Angeles. It’s not currently clear when the baby died, but the Los Angeles Police Department said that she had been put in the dumpster within 24 hours before the body was found.
Authorities estimated that the baby was between 4 to 6 months old, according to ABC7, while TMZ and the L.A. Times reported the infant was 6 months old.
The LAPD said that officers learned of the situation when they received a call about a death investigation after the baby was found in the trash can late on September 28. Firefighters then reported to the scene and took the baby to a nearby hospital, where she was ultimately pronounced dead.
After the baby’s body was discovered, her mother was reportedly placed in handcuffs and taken away in a police vehicle on the morning of Tuesday, September 29, according to a journalist from ABC7 who was at the scene.
The woman who was arrested has not yet been publicly identified, and it’s not known if she has been formally charged in connection to her daughter’s death.
LAPD’s Juvenile Division is investigating the child’s death, which is being considered a homicide. Officers have already determined that the child was not homeless and ruled out the possibility of the crime being gang related.
ABC7 spoke to a woman who said the baby might have been her granddaughter, Luna.
Laura Lacey explained that she was watching the news when she saw that a baby was found in a dumpster near the apartment where her foster daughter and granddaughter were staying. She then quickly got in her car and headed over to the apartment complex on the morning of September 29.
Lacey said she and her partner had just dropped the baby off with her daughter the night before the girl’s body was found, and she claimed that her daughter’s story about the baby’s whereabouts did not make sense.
After she was unable to find her granddaughter for hours, Lacey heard the woman who allegedly found the girl in the dumpster describing what the baby looked like.
“Everything she was describing was the same thing Luna had on,” Lacey said. “The lady that saw the baby… said she had pink pants, a flower shirt with some gloves on.”
She added, “She put that beautiful baby in the (expletive) trash. Who does this!”
Following the tragedy, the LAPD’s Community Safety Partnership Bureau told the outlet that their main focus is the healing in the small community.
“We want to ensure that there’s proper healing, that the community members understand what’s happening, and that they can be there for one another,” Deputy Chief Ruby Flores said.
The investigation into the case remains ongoing.
