Lancaster woman arrested in death of her 18-month-old daughter

A woman who had claimed that an attacker knocked her out and abducted her 18-month-old daughter has been arrested on suspicion of killing the girl, authorities said.

Stacey Barker, 24, was arrested Thursday afternoon at her grandparents’ home in Lancaster and was being held in lieu of $1-million bail.

A day after her daughter’s March 18 disappearance, Barker recanted the tale of assault and abduction that had launched a massive hunt, said Los Angeles County sheriff’s spokesman Steve Whitmore.

She helped sheriff’s detectives find Emma Leigh’s body and told them that her daughter had died in an accident.

Barker initially told detectives that she was at a Lancaster park last month near the 14 Freeway and had just placed Emma in her car seat when she was struck from behind by an unknown assailant.

She told them that she awoke about 10:30 p.m., five hours later and several miles away at a Palmdale park-and-ride lot on Avenue S, and that her daughter was missing. After Barker recanted, detectives discovered the toddler’s body by the side of a road in Sylmar, near the 5 Freeway.

The body, found near Roxford Street and El Dorado Avenue, was concealed by deep, brush along a fence. Authorities said it appeared that the body, which showed no visible signs of trauma, was dumped within the previous 24 hours.

Coroner’s officials in recent weeks conducted an autopsy and other tests to determine the cause of death, but the findings have been temporarily sealed at the request of detectives investigating the case.

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richard.winton@latimes.com