Mother suspected of killing baby, tossing son from landing

Upland police say a mother suspected of killing her 7-month-old daughter, then throwing or dropping her young son from a second-story apartment building and jumping herself could face a murder charge while investigators hunt for a motive.

Police Capt. Marcelo Blanco says the 24-year-old woman and her 1 ½-year-old boy were hospitalized in stable condition after Upland police were called to the apartment east of Los Angeles yesterday morning,

Blanco says "this is very unusual. It's extremely tragic."

He says officers went to the apartment building after a neighbor called 911 to report that a child was screaming or crying, and then she noticed that the woman was holding the child over a second-story landing.

The captain says "she proceeded to drop the child down from the second story. From what we gather, it was an intentional act, it wasn't accidental."

Blanco says the boy fell about 12 to 15 feet, suffering a broken foot, and the mother jumped when officers arrived. She landed face down, suffering facial injuries.

Police then made a safety check of the second-story apartment and found the woman's approximately 7-month-old daughter inside. She wasn't breathing.

He says her breathing was restored but she died at a hospital.

He says the cause of her death will be determined but she had a possible skull fracture and internal injuries. The mother, whose name wasn’t immediately released, was expected to be booked on suspicion of murder after being medically cleared.