Toddler found in Santa Monica apartment dies from injuries involving frying pan; mother in custody
SANTA MONICA, Calif. (KABC) — A 15-month-old girl died Tuesday after she was found with “significant injuries” inside a Santa Monica apartment, and the toddler’s mother has been arrested, police said.
Eyewitness News has learned the death involved a frying pan, but the nature of the toddler’s injuries were not revealed.
UCLA Police alerted the Santa Monica Police Department shortly before noon about a woman detained on campus who made statements indicating she harmed her child and left her inside an apartment in the 2000 block of Broadway.
Officers went to the apartment and found the toddler with “significant injuries,” police said in a statement. The child was taken to a local hospital, where she was later pronounced dead.
The woman was taken into custody in connection with the child’s death and booked into Santa Monica Jail on felony charges. Booking records identify the woman as 24-year-old Carmen Anita Degregg.
Her bail has been set at $2 million.
Forensics agents in the evening carried out bags of evidence as detectives conducted their investigation at the low-rise luxury apartment building. Their investigation appears to be focused on a second-floor apartment.
Crime scene investigators spent more than seven hours canvassing the apartment.
A cause and manner of death will be determined by the L.A. County Medical Examiner.
An investigation is ongoing.
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