A woman who was suspected of leaving her dead 4-month-old infant in a dumpster in South Los Angeles may soon face formal criminal charges as police were preparing Wednesday to present their investigation to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office for review.
Takiyah Babers, 19, was arrested, a few feet away from where the baby’s body was found, on suspicion of murder Tuesday in South Los Angeles after being questioned by Los Angeles Police Department officers. She was being held in lieu of $2 million bail at the Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department inmate records.
The community responded to the infant’s death Tuesday by creating a spontaneous memorial for the infant at the scene of her death. Dozens of candles were lit, flowers were placed and balloons were tied to the dumpster where the baby was found.
Police detained Babers on Tuesday morning while investigating the discovery of the infant in the 5200 block of Alba Street. The baby was found unresponsive around 10:30 p.m. Monday.
Paramedics took the girl to a hospital Monday night, where she was pronounced dead. Police did not immediately identify her, but her foster grandparents told reporters at the scene that her name was Luna.
“This case will be presented to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office for filing consideration,” the LAPD said in a statement that identified Babers as the biological mother of the victim.
It was not immediately clear how the baby died or what the motive may have been.
“That was the sweetest little baby in the world. To be found in a Dumpster, dirty Dumpster, it just broke my heart,” Herman Johnson, Babers’ foster father, told Fox11. “I don’t know what to do. I don’t even know what to say.”
Johnson said he questioned Babers on Tuesday morning after learning that a baby had been found in a trash bin. He said she initially told him the baby was sleeping, then said the infant was at the baby’s father’s home, which also proved untrue.
Babers’ foster mother, Laura Lacy, told reporters she “had no idea (Babers) was feeling that way to discard” the baby.
No court date was scheduled for Babers as of 2:30 a.m. Wednesday.
The investigation is ongoing and anyone with information about the incident is urged to contact the LAPD’s Abused Child Unit at 213-486-0530.