Police Say Baby Slain by Mother, Thrown to Dogs

A 19-year-old woman was arrested in Pomona on suspicion of killing her newborn son and throwing his body into the back yard of a neighbor’s home where pit bulls were kept, police said Wednesday

Araceli Banda Garcia, who has two other children, was being held without bail at Sybil Brand Institute on suspicion of murder after her arrest Tuesday night, said Lt. Ron Frazier of the Pomona Police Department.

“We believe that the suspect intentionally murdered the infant and have evidence to support a homicide charge,” Frazier said.

The mutilated body of the baby boy, whose arm was missing and whose testicles had been severed, was found Friday afternoon in the yard of a house in the 500 block of Orange Grove Avenue.

Police initially believed that one or both of the pit bulls mauled the nine-pound baby, but now believe that he was dead when his body was thrown into the yard.

One of the dogs had been penned up and had no access to the baby, and the other was a puppy. Investigators said they doubted it could have mutilated the infant’s body to such an extent.

Investigators said Garcia may have been trying to hide the birth from her parents, who live next door to where the baby was found. When questioned, Garcia said she had been pregnant and that she was treated for a miscarriage Friday at a hospital, police said.

But when police obtained a warrant and searched her parents’ house, where Garcia lived, they said they found a full-term placenta in a trash container outside.

Garcia then admitted that the baby was hers and that she had thrown it into the neighbor’s yard, Frazier said, adding that the identity of the baby’s father was unknown.

Garcia’s other children, ages 2 and 3, also live with her parents.

Neighbors, who know Garcia as “Sally,” said they were shocked that she had been arrested. “I couldn’t tell she was pregnant,” neighbor Richard Lepe said.

Hulda Worrell, 90, said Garcia was friendly and frequently brought over birthday cake and other treats. “I hope it isn’t true,” Worrell said of the allegation that Garcia killed her baby.