3 Arrested in Strangling Death of Girl in Their Care

A couple who own an unlicensed Lomita day-care home were arrested along with their teen-age daughter Friday on suspicion of child endangerment in the strangulation death of a 16-month-old girl at the home earlier this week.

Robert and Linda Zieger, both 47, and their daughter Laura, 19, who was acting as the baby-sitter at the time of the infant’s death Monday, were arrested at the home where they cared for neighborhood children. They were being held at the Lomita sheriff’s station in lieu of $3,000 bail.

Also removed from the home were the Ziegers’ five other children, three boys and two girls ranging in age from 8 to 16, who were taken into protective custody and will be placed in foster homes pending the outcome of the case, sheriff’s spokesman Hal Grant said.

Arraignment Expected Monday

The Ziegers were expected to be arraigned Monday morning in South Bay Municipal Court on one count of felony child endangerment, he said.

Authorities still do not know who strangled the infant, Michele Heasley of Redondo Beach, but homicide detectives are continuing their investigation, Grant said.

Sheriff’s deputies and paramedics learned of the incident Monday afternoon when they were called by Laura Zieger to the two-story home on West 262nd Street in a hillside neighborhood just south of Palos Verdes Peninsula.

The teen-ager reportedly told authorities that she was caring for the baby and six other children, ranging in age from 3 to 5. According to investigators, she said the girl was fine at about 2 p.m. but had stopped breathing when she checked on her an hour later.

The child died at Torrance Memorial Hospital Medical Center.

Investigators found evidence that the infant was strangled by a flexible object wrapped twice around her neck, Sheriff’s Homicide Detective Mike Bumcrot said. An autopsy Wednesday by the county coroner’s office confirmed the suspicion.

Bumcrot refused to reveal what was wrapped around the girl’s neck or other details surrounding the death, including the identity of the baby’s parents.

No Record of License

A spokeswoman for the state Department of Social Services said the agency has no record that the Ziegers had a license to use their home as a day-care center. A state license is required for any facility that cares for children from more than one family, agency spokeswoman Kathleen Norris said.

One neighbor of the Ziegers said she often saw cars pull up to pick up or drop off youngsters at the home.

“I would see people coming and going all the time,” said the woman, who asked not to be identified. “They were nice, well-dressed people. They looked like the kind who would be interested in taking care of their kids.”

A man who answered the door at the Ziegers’ home earlier this week refused to speak to a reporter.