What Led Investigators to Arrest Takiyah Babers After an Infant Was Found in Los Angeles?

 A South Los Angeles neighborhood was shaken after a 4-month-old girl was found dead inside a dumpster, prompting an investigation that led police to detain her 19-year-old mother. The discovery, made late Monday near Alba Street, began with a resident taking out the trash and noticing a black plastic bag. The child was later identified as Luna, whose death has left relatives and neighbors seeking answers.

At about 10:30 p.m., Martha Serrano Jimenez was taking out household garbage near the 5200 block of Alba Street, across from Holmes Avenue Elementary School. She noticed a heavy black bag in the dumpster and used her cellphone flashlight to look inside. At first, she thought she was seeing a doll, but realized the bag contained an infant. Her daughter called 911, bringing emergency responders to the scene. Residents were left confronting a discovery made in an ordinary neighborhood setting.

While waiting for help, Serrano Jimenez, nearby residents and the emergency dispatcher attempted CPR on the baby. Officials have not publicly explained what caused her death or whether she had been injured before being placed in the dumpster. The discovery drew police to the area and began a homicide investigation, with detectives tasked with identifying the child and reconstructing the events leading up to her death. The emergency call brought urgency to a distressing discovery.

Around 4 a.m. Tuesday, Luna’s grandparents, Herman Johnson and Laura Lacy, reportedly learned of the discovery through a news report. They became alarmed when the report mentioned that the baby had six toes on her left foot, a feature they recognized in their granddaughter. The couple went to Johnson’s apartment in South Los Angeles, a few hundred yards from the dumpster. Their concern became a search to confirm the infant’s identity. Determining the timeline is central to understanding the infant’s final hours.

Serrano Jimenez was shown a photograph of Luna and identified the child as the same baby she had found in the dumpster. Police then questioned Luna’s mother as detectives worked to understand how the infant had ended up outside. According to reports, the mother presented a cellphone photograph that she said showed Luna safe, but did not reveal where it was taken. The image raised questions about when it was captured. Their recognition of that physical detail directed attention toward the family.

Lacy also viewed the image and reportedly recognized it as an earlier recording because of Luna’s clothing. She noticed the baby’s car seat sitting unused inside the apartment. Those observations became details investigators were examining, although they do not, by themselves, establish what happened. Police secured the apartment as a crime scene, while detectives from the Los Angeles Police Department’s Abused Child Unit responded. The mother’s account and the image’s timing remain matters for investigators.

Officers detained the 19-year-old mother shortly after 8 a.m. Tuesday, according to reports. The LAPD’s Homicide and Abused Child Units are investigating the circumstances surrounding Luna’s death, including events before the infant was discovered and information gathered at the apartment. Formal charges had not been filed at the time of the account, and no conclusion about criminal responsibility should be drawn beyond the reported detention. Investigators have not provided a complete timeline or disclosed whether additional evidence is being reviewed.

For Luna’s grandparents, a detail in a news report turned tragedy into personal fear. For Serrano Jimenez and the neighbors who tried to help, the discovery was a moment of compassion amid circumstances they could not control. The investigation continues, and essential facts remain unknown, including the precise cause of death. Until authorities release verified findings, Luna’s life remain central.