Police informed ABC News that the discovery of a deceased baby on a highway on Monday has been associated with a possible murder-suicide incident in Los Angeles.
Early Monday morning, authorities located the body of an 8-month-old girl on the 405 Freeway. Alongside her, a 9-year-old girl was found on the shoulder, alive but with moderate injuries, as stated by the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD).
Following this discovery, a woman, later identified by police as the children’s mother, crashed her vehicle into a tree in Redondo Beach. She was declared dead at the scene, identified as Danielle Johnson, 34, on Tuesday afternoon.
Meanwhile, on Monday, authorities discovered the father deceased from apparent stab wounds in a Woodland Hills apartment. Identified as Jaelen Chaney, 29, by police on Tuesday.
According to police reports on Tuesday, during the early hours of Monday, the couple engaged in a verbal altercation that escalated into violence, leading Johnson to stab Chaney, who died from his injuries at the scene.
A knife containing biological evidence was recovered from the scene.
The mother is also suspected of abandoning the two children on the highway before crashing her vehicle.
Police mentioned that the two children were “expelled” from the moving car. However, it remains unclear whether the baby was already deceased or passed away later on the highway.
The 9-year-old girl, believed to be a witness to the incident, sustained injuries and was hospitalized. She is currently in safe custody, according to police.
Neighbors informed Los Angeles ABC station KABC that they heard an argument from the apartment the previous night and noticed blood in the area the following morning.
Describing the scene, a 26-year-old woman recounted, “Their door was wide open, there was blood on the floor leading into their apartment, and then a trail of it in the hallway leading up to the elevator and I saw some blood on the wall.” She mentioned that her father contacted 911, who instructed them to check inside the apartment, where they discovered the deceased man. “He was deceased, he was facedown on the floor,” she said. “And there was a lot of blood.”