As authorities determined the discovery of a dead infant on the 405 Freeway in Culver City was linked to a stabbing death in Woodland Hills and a deadly crash in Redondo Beach, a quiet San Fernando Valley community reeled from the shock and grief Tuesday.
Through the tragic chain of events, the 8-month-old was killed while her 9-year-old sister, who was also found on the freeway, survived with moderate injuries. The girls’ mother died in the fatal collision while the woman’s live-in boyfriend was found dead with stabbing wounds at the Montecito Apartments on Variel Avenue in Woodland Hills.
The stabbing victim was identified as 29-year-old Jaelen Chaney while authorities said the woman, who is believed to have fatally stabbed Chaney, was 34-year-old Danielle Johnson.
'Something bad has happened here'
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As neighbors tried to make sense of the series of horrific incidents, a man who lived next door to the family of four said he discovered the gruesome scene next door.
“I went outside of our unit, and I saw blood on the floor,” Richard Berglund, the next door neighbor said. “I started calling in there and said, ‘Hello? Hello? Is anybody there?’ And nobody answered.”
When Berglund stepped inside the unit, he saw an image that he now struggles to forget.
“I saw two legs that were on the floor, so I called 911 and said, ‘Something bad has happened here.’"
'You don't need to be violent'
Another neighbor said although she had heard the couple arguing in the early morning hours on Monday, she never imagined such deadly outcomes.
“I can’t imagine how things could ever get so bad that you could do something like that. I don’t understand it,” said Jody Berglund, who also lived next door to the victims and suspect. “Leave. That’s what I always say. Leave. You don’t need to be violent.”
The neighbors said they were also heartbroken for the sole survivor, the 9-year-old girl, who was found on the 405 Freeway along with her sister. NBC Los Angeles’ I-Team learned the older sister had the baby in her arms when they were pushed out of the moving car by their mother.
“As a mom myself and a grandma, I can’t imagine what that little girl went through,” Berglund said. “She is going to have to live with this for the rest of their life and no one deserves that. No one. And I really hope she is being taken care of.”
