A Los Angeles mother murdered her partner in their apartment, leaving a trail of blood leading to the front door, before killing their baby daughter and dumping her on the side of a highway in a gruesome murder-suicide that ended with him driving head-on. a tree.
The bizarre and tragic chain of events began unfolding at 4:30 a.m. Monday when police were called to the 405 Freeway in Culver City.
There, they found the body of a five-month-old baby lying next to his injured older sister, on the right shoulder of the road. The infant was pronounced dead at the scene and the nine-year-old girl was rushed to hospital.
It is still unclear how the baby died or what injuries the eldest daughter suffered.
Fifteen kilometers away, police found their mother’s body in her car. She had crashed into a tree and committed suicide.
The mother, whom DailyMail.com can name as Danielle Johnson, was fleeing an even more grisly scene: the family home where she had murdered her partner, the baby’s father, 29-year-old Jaelen Allan Chaney.
Jaelen Allan Chaney, 29, was found dead in her Woodland Hills, Calif., apartment Monday morning. Neighbors said they heard Chaney arguing with the woman he lived with just hours before his death.
California Highway Patrol officials said an infant abandoned on the 405 Freeway in the Culver City area died at the scene, but her 9-year-old child was rushed to the hospital. Above, the cops respond to the children
Apartments in this swanky building cost up to $5,600 per month.
He was found in the family apartment by a neighbor who saw blood “flowing” under the door.
After killing Chaney and throwing the girls onto the highway, she was killed in a head-on crash.
The cause and manner of death of Chaney and the infant remain to be determined and Chaney’s grieving family is trying to make sense of this tragedy.
His brother Matthew Chiricas told DailyMail.com how he “accepted” the eldest child – Johnson’s from a previous relationship – as his own.
“I never saw him as kids, but I know he absolutely adored him.”
What drove the woman to kill remains a mystery.
Neighbors said Chaney and the woman had lived in the posh apartment for a little over a year with the two children.
A neighbor told ABC7 she heard Chaney and a woman arguing in the middle of the night.
The next morning, she saw a trail of blood coming from the apartment.
LAPD officials said Jaelen Allan Chaney, 29, was killed in his Woodland Hills apartment, which had damage possibly linked to the murder.
Police are still investigating whether the woman who was driving the vehicle and fatally crashed into a tree was connected to the murder of Jaelen Allan Chaney.
Chaney, who loved traveling and playing video games, was in the U.S. Air Force for about four years, family members said.
“Their door was wide open, there was blood on the floor leading to their apartment, then a mark in the hallway leading to the elevator, and I saw blood on the walls,” she said .
The woman’s father called 911.
“I called the police and told them something was wrong,” the neighbor said.
“And they told me, when I spoke to the paramedic, to go in and check the body. So I did it.
“And he was dead, he was face down. And there was a lot of blood.
The woman then drove to Redondo Beach, where she fatally crashed her car into a tree.
Family members said Chaney was a mechanic for the U.S. Air Force and was stationed in Europe.
Chiricas said his brother contacted him sporadically, but never shared details of his relationship.
In a text message regarding the one from November 2022, he said: “I’ve had a lot going on personally with my girlfriend and I don’t really want to share it right now because it’s not appropriate.
Chiricas said his brother and his girlfriend traveled across Europe when he was stationed in Italy.
“The last message he sent me was wishing me a happy birthday,” Chiricas said.
“He was in the Air Force, but he dreamed of becoming a meteorologist. He was like the rest of us, trying to have fun and start a family.
Police have not yet released the motive or cause of the woman’s death.
The eldest daughter was taken into care by CPS.
dailymail us
