The 4-month-old girl died from blunt trauma, and her 19-year-old mother now faces murder and child-assault charges.

LOS ANGELES, Ca. — A detail broadcast on local television helped a South Los Angeles family make a devastating connection after a 4-month-old girl was found unresponsive in a trash bin: The child had six toes on one foot, a distinctive feature relatives said matched their granddaughter. Hours later, police arrested the baby’s 19-year-old mother, Takiyah Rochelle Babers.

What began as an unidentified-child investigation on the night of Sept. 28 developed into a murder case as relatives, witnesses and detectives pieced together the infant’s identity and movements. The Los Angeles Police Department said officers were called about 10:30 p.m. to the 5200 block of Alba Street after a female infant was found inside a trash container. Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics took the child to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Police later identified Babers as the baby’s biological mother and arrested her on suspicion of murder. Prosecutors subsequently charged her with murder and felony assault on a child causing death.

The woman who discovered the infant told local reporters that she had been looking through the trash area when she noticed a bag and used the light on her phone to see more clearly. She initially believed she was looking at a doll. After realizing the object was a child, she and others summoned emergency help. Police described the infant as unresponsive when officers arrived. Early reports did not immediately establish the child’s identity, and detectives from the LAPD Juvenile Division’s Abused Child Section took over the investigation into how the baby had been injured and why she was in the trash bin.

That uncertainty changed after Herman Johnson and Laura Lacy, who had been caring for the baby, watched news coverage about the discovery. They told local television stations that a report mentioned an unusual identifying feature: six toes on the child’s left foot. Their granddaughter shared that feature. The couple said they had cared for the baby for most of her short life after Babers, their foster daughter, had difficulty caring for her. Family members identified the child as Luna. The Los Angeles County medical examiner later listed her as Luna Babers and said she was 4 months and 3 days old when she died.

Johnson and Lacy said they had brought Luna to Babers on the evening of Sept. 28 after Babers asked to spend time with her daughter. According to family accounts reported by local news organizations, the grandparents became alarmed after seeing the broadcast about the unidentified infant and went looking for Luna. They said Babers gave changing explanations about where the baby was, including saying the child was asleep and later suggesting she was with her biological father. FOX 11 reported that family members also questioned a video Babers showed them because they believed it was not current.

The grandparents then contacted police and shared photographs that could help identify the baby, according to local reports. LAPD officers secured the area and detectives continued questioning people connected to the case. Police announced Sept. 29 that Babers had been taken into custody without incident and booked under California’s murder statute. At that stage, investigators had not publicly described a cause of death or motive, and the department said the case remained under investigation and would be presented to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office for a filing decision.

The medical findings later provided one of the case’s most significant updates. The Los Angeles County medical examiner determined that Luna died from blunt trauma and classified the manner of death as homicide, according to records reported by NBC Los Angeles and other local outlets. A homicide ruling describes the medical examiner’s conclusion about how a death occurred; it does not by itself establish criminal responsibility. Prosecutors charged Babers with one count of murder and one felony count of assault on a child causing death. She is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.

Additional evidence described publicly has come largely through relatives and people speaking on their behalf rather than detailed court testimony. Najee Ali, an advocate for Babers’ foster parents, told the Los Angeles Times that security footage from the apartment complex appeared to show Babers placing the baby’s body in the dumpster. He also described other video that he said showed activity at the apartment after Luna was dropped off. A law enforcement source told the Times that Ali’s description was accurate. Authorities have not publicly released the footage, and the full evidentiary record has not been tested at trial.

The family relationship surrounding the case adds another layer to the investigation. Lacy said she had raised Babers after taking her in as a foster child when Babers was young. She and Johnson later became the principal caregivers for Luna, according to their interviews with local television stations. They described feeding, caring for and living with the infant before the Sept. 28 handoff. Their public comments after Luna’s death combined grief over the baby with disbelief that Babers had become the person accused of killing her.

Neighbors and relatives later gathered near the location where Luna was found, creating a memorial with candles, flowers and balloons. Family members described the baby as deeply loved and said the home where she had been cared for was filled with reminders of her. The memorial became a focal point for a community trying to understand how an infant who had been with relatives earlier that day ended up mortally injured in a trash container only hours later.

Several important questions remain unanswered publicly. Investigators have not announced a motive, and available reports do not establish exactly when Luna suffered the injuries that caused her death. Police also have not released a complete minute-by-minute account of the hours between the child’s arrival at Babers’ residence and her discovery in the trash bin. Assertions from relatives about planning or intent remain their interpretations of the evidence; determining criminal intent is ultimately a matter for the prosecution to prove and for the court process to resolve.

The case now turns on what prosecutors can prove about the hours after Luna was returned to Babers’ care. The medical examiner has ruled the baby’s death a homicide caused by blunt trauma, but investigators have not publicly announced a motive or released a complete timeline. Babers faces murder and felony child-assault charges and is presumed innocent unless proven guilty. Public reporting reviewed through Nov. 10 does not reliably establish the outcome of the previously scheduled Oct. 30 court proceeding.

Author note: Last updated November 10, 2026.