A neighbor taking out the trash around 10:30 p.m. Monday made a discovery that would unravel within hours: an unresponsive baby inside a black plastic bag in a dumpster on Alba Street in South Los Angeles. Martha Serrano Jimenez said she initially thought it was a doll. It wasn't.
By Tuesday morning, LAPD detectives had a suspect -- the infant's own mother, 19-year-old Takiyah Babers, now booked on suspicion of murder.
How the baby was identified
Paramedics rushed the infant to a hospital, where she died showing what police described as clear signs of physical trauma. She hadn't yet been identified when local news began reporting the story Tuesday morning -- until her grandparents, Herman Johnson and Laura Lacy, saw the coverage. One detail stopped them: the baby had six toes on her left foot, a rare trait their own granddaughter, Luna, was born with. They contacted investigators and shared photos to confirm it was her.
What police say the mother told them
According to police, Babers gave investigators a shifting set of explanations for where Luna was. First, she said the baby was asleep. Then she said she had handed Luna over to the child's estranged biological father. When pressed further, she showed officers a phone video she claimed was current proof the baby was alive -- family members later told reporters the video was old, noting Babers was wearing different clothing in it than she had on that day, and that Luna's car seat had never left the apartment.
"She didn't deserve to die"
"She didn't deserve to die. That was the sweetest little baby in the world," Luna's grandfather, Herman Johnson, told FOX 11. "To be found in a Dumpster, dirty Dumpster, it just broke my heart." Grandmother Laura Lacy said simply: "It's just like a nightmare. It's unbelievable. I didn't formulate words to explain how I feel right now."
Where the case stands
Babers is being held on $2 million bail at the Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood. LAPD's Abused Child Unit is preparing to present its findings to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office for formal charge consideration, and the county Medical Examiner has not yet issued an official ruling on cause and manner of death. The identity and whereabouts of Luna's biological father, who Babers claimed had the baby, remain unknown to the public. IF Daily will update this story as the investigation and any formal charges develop.
