Woman killed husband in Woodland Hills, CA left kids on 405, then died in Redondo Beach, sources say

ByIrene Cruz KABC logo
Tuesday, April 9, 2024
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Baby's death on 405 linked to Woodland Hills homicide, LAPD says
We're learning new details about two young children left alone on the 405 Freeway - an infant dying in the lanes. The tragedy is connected to a man's death in Woodland Hills.

WOODLAND HILLS, Calif. -- The deaths of a baby and her parents who were found at three separate locations in Los Angeles County are being investigated as a murder-suicide that began when the woman allegedly stabbed her husband to death, Eyewitness News has learned.

The man found dead in Woodland Hills was identified Tuesday by the county medical examiner's office as 29-year-old Jaelen Chaney.

Neighbors said they heard a loud argument coming from a unit in the building in the middle of the night before the husband was stabbed to death. A 26-year-old woman who lives in the building next to the apartment says Monday morning, she saw a bloody scene.

The video in the player above is from a previous report.

"Their door was wide open, there was blood on the floor leading into their apartment, and then a trail of it in the hallway leading up to the elevator, and I saw some blood on the walls," she said.

Her father called 911.

"Called the police and told them that something was not right," he recalled. "And they told me, when I spoke to the EMT, to go in and check on the body. So I did. And he was deceased, he was facedown on the floor. And there was a lot of blood."

Authorities believe the woman drove away from the scene of the fatal stabbing with the couple's two daughters, a 6-month-old baby and a 9-year-old, damaging the apartment gate in the process.

Somehow the 6-month-old and 9-year-old ended up on the 405 Freeway in the Westchester area around 4:30 a.m. Drivers who discovered the children called 911.

The infant was declared dead on the scene. The older girl, the sole survivor, was transported to a hospital.

Sources told ABC7 Los Angeles affiliate KABC the 9-year-old girl was a witness to the Woodland Hills homicide.

Whether the baby had died earlier or on the freeway remains unclear. The California Highway Patrol has asked the public for help in confirming details of how the children ended up on the freeway. Anyone who may have driven by the area at that time was asked to go back and look at dash cameras.

"Witnesses claim there was a black sedan in the area at the time of the incident," said CHP Officer Isabel Diaz. "They didn't indicate what relation they had, but just possibly involved. If anyone else was in the area, northbound 405 at Centinela Avenue approximate 4:30 (a.m.), we'd appreciate if you could call with any information."

The mother then crashed her car into a tree in Redondo Beach at a high speed around 5 a.m., sources said. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

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