Mom left kids for dead on LA freeway after she committed murder, cops believe
A Los Angeles woman died in a traffic crash after police suspect she committed a murder, drove off with her daughters and left the infant and 7-to-9-year-old to die on the freeway after they fell out of her moving vehicle.
Danielle Cherakiyah Johnson is the suspect in a homicide investigation, the California Highway Patrol (CHP) said in a news release.
CHP officers received a 911 call on Monday around 4:29 a.m. regarding a medical emergency, according to the release. When CHP and Culver City Fire got to the scene, they found Johnson's infant daughter with major injuries and her older daughter with moderate injuries, CHP said.
The Culver City Fire Department pronounced the infant dead at 4:44 a.m., CHP said. The older daughter was taken to a hospital to be treated for her injuries, the highway patrol said.
Danielle Cherakiyah Johnson fled after the murder and when daughters fell out of the vehicle, CHP says
An "intense investigation" led to authorities identifying Johnson, who they suspect carried out a homicide in Woodland Hills, a neighborhood in Los Angeles, CHP said.
Authorities believe Johnson fled the murder scene in a dark-colored Porsche Cayenne, CHP said. While traveling on the freeway, the two minors "fell or were thrown out of the moving vehicle," according to the highway patrol's release.
Once Johnson's daughters were out of the vehicle, she didn't stop and drove to Redondo Beach, CHP said. While at the beach, Johnson got involved in a traffic crash and succumbed to her injuries, according to highway patrol.
Johnson's daughters' identities will be withheld pending further investigation, according to CHP.
Jaelen Allen Chaney was found dead in the couple's apartment, reports say
Johnson's husband, 29-year-old Jaelen Allen Chaney, was found dead at an apartment complex in Woodland Hills, according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Authorities did not identify who Johnson is suspected of killing.
A neighbor at the apartments did "hear commotion coming from the couple’s apartment before the woman left with the children," according to the Los Angeles Times.
"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," one of Johnson's neighbors told KABC-TV in Los Angeles, California.