A 32-year-old mother was arrested by Westminster police Friday, Nov. 24 on suspicion of killing her 9-year-old daughter, whose body was found inside a home, authorities said.
Police were called to the 14100 block of Goldenwest Street just past noon after a concerned family member asked officers to do a welfare check at the home, Sgt. Eddie Esqueda said.
The girl was found dead inside with obvious signs of trauma, Esqueda said. No one else was inside the home.
While investigating, detectives identified the girl’s mother, Khadiyjah Aliyyah Ali Pendergraph, as a person of interest, Esqueda said. With help from the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, Pendergraph was found and arrested at an Aliso Viejo shopping center.
She was booked into jail on suspicion of murder, the sergeant said.
“While police officers are exposed to tragedies on a daily basis, this murder is particularly disturbing, due to the senseless loss of a child allegedly at the hands of her own mother,” Westminster Police Chief Darin Lenyi said in a statement.
The girl’s cause of death was not disclosed by police.
Source: Orange County Register
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