A woman was arrested Tuesday after she left her severely injured toddler in a luxury Santa Monica apartment complex, then drove to UCLA, approached the first police officer she saw and told them where to find her baby, authorities say.
The woman, identified in booking records as 24-year-old Carmen Anita DeGregg, was taken into custody and booked into Santa Monica Jail. DeGregg’s bail is set at $2 million.
Around noon Tuesday, DeGregg left her apartment and drove, “not knowing where to go,” according to a Santa Monica police spokesperson. The woman ended up at UCLA, although she’s not a student and has no other affiliation with the school.
She approached a police officer and admitted to harming her child and leaving the injured toddler in her apartment, officials say. UCLA police alerted Santa Monica police, which started the investigation that unfolded Tuesday, the department said in a news release.
Officers headed to Santa Monica’s the Charlie, an upscale complex in the middle of the city, where the child was found inside a unit. A Santa Monica police spokesperson confirmed that the 15-month-old girl was discovered with critical injuries.
Paramedics rushed the child to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Apartment complex residents told KTLA that DeGregg had moved in only a few months earlier and that a woman who seemed to be in distress had been heard talking inside the apartment earlier in the day.
Authorities said that the father of the baby girl was brought in for questioning but released with no charges.
In a statement, Santa Monica police officials confirmed that a team of Special Investigations detectives were gathering evidence and investigating the case. The Los Angeles County medical examiner will determine the exact cause of death.
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