Woman, Child, And Baby Found Unconscious, Covered In Powder In LA Lot

LOS ANGELES, CA — A woman, a young girl and a baby were found naked, unconscious and covered in white powder Thursday in the parking lot of a South Los Angeles market, and the baby later died at a hospital from unknown causes.

The three were found about 1:45 a.m. behind a Numero Uno parking lot at South San Pedro and East 23rd streets, police said. The woman was believed to be the girls' mother, and police said the powder was determined to be some type of "baby product."

The baby, a 2-month-old girl, died at a hospital. The 26- or 27-year-old woman was hospitalized in stable condition, and the 8-year-old girl was listed as critical, police said.

LAPD Capt. Michael Rimkunas of the Newton Division said police went to the location in response to a report of a female heard screaming. The three victims were found naked on the ground in the Numero Uno parking lot, covered in a white powder and not breathing, Rimkunas said.

It wasn't immediately clear what happened to the victims, but they showed no obvious signs of injury.

A hazardous-materials team was sent to determine what the powder was, Rimkunas said, adding that there was "quite a lot of the substance" on the ground. It was later determined to be a "baby product," police said.

An autopsy on the baby girl was pending.

A police lieutenant told the Los Angeles Times officers had responded Wednesday night to the home in which the woman is thought to live, in response to an assault with a deadly weapon report. Responding officers saw white powder in a room, but there was no evidence of a crime, so they left.

A neighbor, Johnett Green, told reporters the woman's boyfriend would often scream at her, leaving neighbors to wonder if she was an in abusive relationship. Green said the boyfriend once broke some windows while searching for the woman.

"We would hear all this loud cursing and you'd hear a lot of arguing going on with him and her," Green told ABC7.

The owner of the market, Sunhee Chung, told the station the woman had been in the store Wednesday, buying three cans of Ajax cleaner and latex gloves. Chung said the 8-year-old girl was with the woman, crying.

"The girl, she was crying all night long," Chung told Channel 7.

Chung told The Times one of her employees saw the woman and two girls outside the store Wednesday night, all nude and covered in power. The woman was breastfeeding the baby, she said.

Chung also told The Times that she saw the woman trying to open the doors of cars parked outside the store

City News Service