Ventura police responded to a violent fight between a man and a woman Monday only to find a dead girl inside an apartment.
Sgt. Jack Richards said at a news conference a man came out of the apartment bleeding with stab wounds on his arms and was taken away in an ambulance. He was under police questioning.
Police ended up arresting the mother of the child, Blair Stockdill, 25, of Ventura. Arriving officers found a dead child inside Stockdill's apartment. Police said Stockdill was the mother of the dead girl.
Neighbors said stockdill came screaming out of the apartment saying a girl was ``dead in the bathtub.''
Police said only that the girl was elementary-school age. They did not give her exact age, the cause of death or any other details.
Late Monday night the Ventura Police Department issued a news release via e-mail that they "responded to a 911 call of, an in progress, assault with a deadly weapon at a condominium complex in the 1300 block of Saratoga Av. A subject had been stabbed and neighbors heard someone screaming, “She is dead.
"Officers arrived at the condominium and found a male subject with knife wounds to his arms and the suspect, Stockdill still holding a knife.
"While officers were making the scene safe and checking the residence for other potential victims they located a deceased female juvenile inside.
"Ventura Police Detectives responded and during the course of the investigation it was learned that the female juvenile had been deceased for several days. All involved parties were taken to the Ventura Police Department for questioning in regards to a potential homicide investigation.
"After interviewing the involved parties and collecting physical evidence from the scene, Stockdill, who is the mother of the victim, was subsequently arrested and booked into Ventura County Jail for the murder of her 8 year old daughter.
"It was also learned that Stockdill had recently regained legal custody of her daughter.
"The manner and cause of death is pending a scheduled autopsy," the news release stated.
