Takiyah Rochelle Babers, 19, was charged on Thursday with one count of murder and one felony count of assault on a child causing death in the death of her 4-month-old daughter, Luna Babers, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. Babers is being held on $2 million bail, her arraignment was postponed on Thursday and she did not enter a plea, and her next court hearing is scheduled for Oct. 30.
19-year-old charged with murder after infant daughter found dead in South Los Angeles dumpster
Takiyah Rochelle Babers, 19, was charged on Thursday with one count of murder and one felony count of assault on a child causing death in the death of her 4-month-old daughter, Luna Babers, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. Babers is being held on $2 million bail, her arraignment was postponed on Thursday and she did not enter a plea, and her next court hearing is scheduled for Oct. 30.
The infant was found in a trash bin near the Pueblo Del Rio housing project in South Los Angeles. Newton Division officers responded around 10:30 p.m. Monday to the 5200 block of Alba Street after a radio call reporting a "death investigation," and found the baby unresponsive inside the container. Los Angeles firefighters and paramedics transported her to a local hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Authorities said the infant had been left there within the previous 24 hours.
Police identified Babers as a suspect during the investigation and arrested her on Tuesday. She was taken into custody without incident and booked for murder, according to authorities. Investigators have yet to determine Luna's cause of death.
Luna had been cared for by her grandmother, Laura Lacy, and Lacy's partner, Herman Johnson. On Monday evening, the couple dropped the baby at the apartment where Babers, Lacy's foster daughter, had been staying. The next morning, after learning Luna was missing, the grandparents rushed back to the neighborhood and soon received the news that the infant had died.
- The source does not state whether an autopsy has been completed or when results are expected.
- The source does not state what evidence or findings support the murder charge or the felony assault charge.
- The source does not state whether Babers has legal counsel or has made any statement about the charges; it reports only that she did not enter a plea when her arraignment was postponed on Thursday.
- The source does not give calendar dates for the Monday discovery, the Tuesday arrest or the Thursday charging, providing only weekdays and the Oct. 30 hearing date.
- The source does not state who made the radio call reporting a "death investigation" or the circumstances in which the infant came to be in the container.
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