UPDATED- Father held in death of 3-week-old Santa Clarita girl Newhall Father Arrested for Allegedly Killing His 3-Week-Old Daughter Nearly 12 hours after a 3-week-old baby girl from Newhall was reported missing by her parents, the infants body was found and her father was arrested for allegedly killing her, according to officials. Ellorah Rose Warner was born with gentle blue eyes and a full head of dark brown hair. When the 3-week-old went missing Friday, gifts and well wishes were still arriving in the mail, a family member said. Her body was found Saturday morning in a pickup truck in Santa Clarita. Soon after, her father, Matthew Warner, 30, was arrested on suspicion of murder. I wish I could turn back the hands of time and I would have seen something. I would have stopped it. Warner and his girlfriend, the childs mother, arrived at the sheriffs station about 9:30 p.m. Friday to report the girl missing. Deputies from three stations set out on an all-night search with helicopters, canines and the help of neighbors. They held the couple overnight for questioning and searched their apartment, authorities said. About 7 a.m., Warner led deputies to a small, blue-gray truck parked outside an apartment complex in the 23600 block of Newhall Avenue, about half a mile from the familys home. The baby was found dead in the front cab, said Lt. Holly Francisco of the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department. Details of how she died were not released because of the pending investigation. Its a tragic situation for everybody involved, Francisco said, adding that the mother would be held for additional questioning. She described the woman, whose name was not released, as distraught. Shes behaving as any mother who just lost their child would behave, Francisco said. Residents of the quiet apartment complex where the couple lived with the baby and her grandmother were shaken by the news. They planned to start a fund to help the family with the funeral costs. I wish I could turn back the hands of time and I would have seen something, said Mario Garcia, 36. I would have stopped it. Saturday afternoon, Nan Allison, the childs grandmother, sat somberly in a lawn chair outside the familys apartment. She was surrounded by neighbors and yellow crime scene tape. A few feet away, homicide detectives searched her home for clues. Ellorah was her first grandchild. She had learned of her death a few hours earlier. She said her daughter, who had returned to work as a daycare provider, left for her job early Friday morning. Warner and Ellorah remained in the couples room. Allison had a rocky relationship with Warner, who had dated her daughter for about two years. He had been in jail and didnt have a job, she said. That morning, Allison said, she heard some rustling and unusual noises coming from the couples bedroom. The babys crying seemed weak. As the afternoon progressed, she didnt hear her granddaughter anymore. She thought perhaps the child had fallen asleep. By 5 p.m., when she noticed the breast milk her daughter left in the refrigerator had not been touched and saw that Warner was acting unusually hyper, she tried to call her daughter. But she said Warner had disconnected the phone line. Allison then went to a neighbors house to call police. But Warner had left and police were unable to locate him. Deputies block off the area near a pickup truck in a Santa Clarita parking lot where the body of a 3-week-old missing baby girl was found Saturday. Her father has been arrested in the death. (Irfan Khan, Los Angeles Times) She said that two neighbors told her later that they saw Warner leaving the complex carrying a small bundle in his hands. When Allisons daughter came home from work, the couple talked and at about 9:30 p.m. went to the sheriffs station to report the child missing. He told my daughter someone had taken the baby from the apartment, Allison said. The details were painful to recount. Her granddaughter, Allison said, was a gentle child who hardly fussed. When they brought her home from the hospital, the new grandmother said she was eager to show her first grandchild to the world, but the days were cold and windy. So the baby stayed inside. She was perfect in every way, she said. I dont even have a photo of her. The ones they took at the hospital havent arrived yet. On the couples Facebook page, a dozen images remain of the girl, swaddled and gently resting in her father or mothers arms. Allison said her daughter doted on her child. She got her a Playard, a bassinet and a crib, Allison said. But she didnt use them because she always wanted to have the baby right next to her in bed.
Posted on: Sun, 25 Jan 2015 21:51:13 +0000