A 19-year-old California woman is accused of killing her 4-month-old daughter and throwing her in the trash, where a neighbor found the baby after initially mistaking her for a doll.
Takiyah Babers is accused of murder in the death of her daughter, Luna Lacy, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. The investigation began around 10:30 p.m. Monday, when neighbors discovered the baby in a trash bin at an apartment complex in the 5200 block of Alba Street. Paramedics rushed Luna to the hospital, where doctors pronounced her dead.
Local Fox reported that a neighbor looking for recyclables noticed a heavy bag and shone her phone’s flashlight inside. She first thought she saw a doll, then realized it was a child. She had her daughter call 911.
Officers began investigating how the girl died and where she came from. Herman Johnson and Laura Lacy, who live in the complex, later told reporters they were watching a news report about the death when investigators released a detail that shattered their lives. The girl found in the trash had six toes, just like their granddaughter Luna.
Johnson and Lacy had been raising Luna since her birth on May 25. Johnson told local CBS that Babers, his foster daughter, was incapable of caring for the baby, so he and Lacy took over. Earlier on Monday, he said, Babers called to say she wanted to be with Luna.
“I should have just kept her like I started to do, but that’s just a back thought,” Johnson said.
After learning of the discovery and the connection to Luna, the couple demanded that Babers bring the girl to them. That is when Babers allegedly began lying. First she said the baby was sleeping. Then she said Luna was with her biological father, who had never been in her life.
The grandparents contacted police, and officers soon took Babers into custody.
“It’s a sad situation,”. “The baby can’t protect herself. She was just an innocent little baby.”
Babers is being held in the Los Angeles County Jail on a $2 million bond. Police say the Los Angeles District Attorney will decide whether to file formal charges. Her next court date was not immediately listed. Authorities have not said how the girl died or disclosed a motive.
Luna’s grandparents are devastated.
“Why would you throw her away? She didn’t do anything,” Lacy said. “What did you call me to bring her home for? Why would you call me … and then do this to her? I don’t believe this. I’m still in disbelief.”