An 8-month-old girl found dead in lanes of the 405 Freeway in Culver City had been in her older sister's arms when the two were pushed by their mother out of their SUV early Monday.
The infant was struck by one or more cars and was killed, LAPD detectives told NBC4's I-Team.
The 9-year-old girl was able to get to the shoulder of the freeway where she was found by officers.
The gruesome incident was reported at around 4:30 a.m. Monday when first responders arrived on the northbound lanes of the freeway near the Howard Hughes Parkway and Sepulveda Boulevard exit to discover an infant and a child.
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The infant's older sister was taken to a hospital for “moderate injuries,” according to the California Highway Patrol.
The infant's death happened shortly after the mother, now identified as Danielle Johnson, used a kitchen knife to stab her live-in boyfriend, 29-year-old Jaelen Chaney, to death in an apartment in Woodland Hills, police said.
Later Monday morning, Johnson was killed when her SUV collided with trees at high speed in Redondo Beach.
“We really don’t know why this incident escalated to such violence," said LAPD Lt. Guy Golan.
He said there was no history of police calls to the apartment on Variel Avenue where he said the couple had been living for more than a year.
"Looking at the history between the victim and suspect, they have been dating for a few years, but there’s no prior incidents of domestic violence reported between the two," Golan said.
The surviving 9-year-old girl is now in the custody of the Child Protective Services.
While Chaney's family is distraught by the news of his death, police say Johnson had been estranged from her family for some time.
