USC Student Charged With Strangling Her Newborn

A USC student on summer break in Illinois was arrested and faces extradition to Los Angeles, where she has been charged with strangling her newborn baby and dumping the body down a trash chute after giving birth in her dormitory room.

Linda Chu, 20, a sophomore business major, was arrested Wednesday by Los Angeles police officers with the help of local law enforcement at her parents’ home in Niles, a suburb north of Chicago.

Chu was awaiting extradition at a Cook County courthouse in Chicago on Thursday to face criminal charges in Los Angeles.

The strangled infant girl was discovered by a campus maintenance worker May 7, one of the last days of the school year. The body was in a dumpster at the bottom of a trash chute at the USC-owned Century Apartments.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Marlene Sanchez of the Family Violence Division said it took investigators more than six weeks to link Chu to the death and compile a case against her.

A student worker at the complex who said she saw the baby after it was discovered described it as pink. The student, who asked that her name not be published, said the baby did not appear injured or disfigured.

According to Sanchez, “a lot of different pieces of evidence tied [Chu] to this baby.” Sanchez declined to elaborate, except to say that Chu and the baby are Asian and that the chute through which the baby fell served Chu’s part of the dormitory.

Sanchez said Chu’s friends and family had not known that she was pregnant.

“She started wearing baggy clothes. She was covering it,” said Sanchez. “All her friends were surprised about this.”

Los Angeles police detectives had questioned Chu the same day the arrest warrant was issued, Wilson said.

Chu faces one count each of murder, assault on a child causing death and child abuse resulting in death. Bail has been set at $1 million.

If convicted on all charges, Chu could spend a maximum of 25 years to life in prison, said Elka Worner, a spokeswoman for the district attorney.

Michael L. Jackson, vice president of student affairs at USC, said that it was the first such incident on the campus.

“We try very hard for students who are having difficulties to take advantage of the counseling services on campus,” Jackson said. “Our society needs to think about why young women feel so desperate and how to address that from an educational, psychological and religious perspective.”

Meanwhile Thursday, a 19-year-old Bassett woman was arrested on suspicion of murder in the strangulation death of her newborn girl in May, a sheriff’s spokesman said.

Jennifer Garcia was booked on murder charges at the Walnut sheriff’s station and was being held without bail. A relative found the baby May 10 in a Bassett home and took her to an Orange County hospital, where she was pronounced dead, said Deputy Henry Garza.

The Orange County coroner’s office determined that the infant died of asphyxiation.

Sanchez said that such deaths are becoming increasingly common.

“We really want to draw attention to the fact that the majority of murdered children are being killed by parents or caretakers,” Sanchez said. “By people who are supposed to care for and protect them.”