An infant girl was found dead, along with a young girl suffering from moderate injuries, on the northbound 405 Freeway in the Culver City area early Monday, and authorities said their discovery may be tied to a Woodland Hills homicide and a Redondo Beach fatal crash.
Around 4:30 a.m., officers were called for a medical emergency along the northbound 405 Freeway near the Sepulveda Boulevard/Howard Hughes Parkway exit, said California Highway Patrol Officer Frank Salas. An infant girl believed to be 5 or 6 months old was lying in the roadway and a 9-year-old girl was found on the right shoulder.
The infant had suffered serious trauma injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene, Salas said, though information on how she’d sustained the injuries was not immediately available.
The young girl had moderate injuries and was taken to a hospital.
A 911 caller told authorities that a black sedan was seen in the area where the girls were found, Salas said, though it was not clear if the girls came from that black sedan.
Two northbound freeway lanes were blocked throughout the morning rush hour while CHP officials investigated the situation.
On Monday afternoon, the Los Angeles Police Department confirmed it was investigating a possible link between the discovery of the girls on the freeway to an overnight slaying in Woodland Hills and a subsequent fatal crash in Redondo Beach.
The LAPD responded to a Woodland Hills apartment building in the 6200 block of Variel Avenue around 7:35 a.m. Monday in response to a report of an unresponsive man in his 30s. Paramedics pronounced the man dead at the scene.
No other details were immediately available.
“While conducting their investigation, homicide detectives learned of two additional incidents that occurred earlier in the morning, one on the 405 Freeway involving two young children and a second in Redondo Beach involving a traffic collision,” according to the LAPD. “At this time, Valley Bureau Homicide detectives are working with the California Highway Patrol on the incident involving the two children and believe it is connected to the Topanga (Woodland Hills) homicide scene.
“They are also collaborating with the Redondo Beach Police Department and the Los Angeles County (Medical Examiner) to determine if that scene is related to the homicide on Variel.”
The Redondo Beach fatal crash involved a black sedan that crashed into a tree, killing the female driver, around 5 a.m. Monday on Pacific Coast Highway and Vincent Street.
Law enforcement sources quoted in broadcast reports said a female may have fatally stabbed the man at the Woodland Hills apartment building as part of a domestic dispute, then fled with the two children, eventually leaving them on the 405 Freeway and driving off. The woman subsequently crashed her black sedan in Redondo Beach and died, the broadcast reports said. The female and the man were married, CBS Los Angeles reported.
Anyone with information on the case was urged to call the CHP Southern Division Major Crimes office at 323-644-9550, or the CHP Traffic Management Center at 323-259-3200.
Southern California News Group staff writer Hunter Lee contributed to this story.
