Infant dead, 9-year-old injured after found on side of Los Angeles freeway

LOS ANGELES — Authorities were investigating any connections between the deaths of an infant girl found Monday on the shoulder of a busy Los Angeles area freeway, a man discovered slain at a suburban apartment complex and a woman killed in a solo car crash near a beach.

The series of events began when officers came upon the infant and a 9-year-old girl on the side of Interstate 405 in Culver City 10 miles (16 km) west of downtown Los Angeles around 4:30 a.m. The infant, believed to be about 6 months old, had suffered unspecified trauma and died at the scene, said California Highway Patrol Officer Frank Salas. The older girl was hospitalized with moderate injuries, he said.

A 911 caller told authorities that a black sedan was seen in the area where the girls were found, Salas said, though it was not clear if the children came from that car.

Next, Los Angeles police responded shortly after 7:30 a.m. to an apartment in the Woodland Hills neighborhood about 25 miles (42 km) northwest of downtown LA following a report of an unresponsive man in his 30s. Paramedics pronounced the man dead at the scene.

Later, authorities said they were investigating the solo crash of a black sedan around 5 a.m. in Redondo Beach, about 20 miles (32 km) southwest of downtown LA, that killed the woman behind the wheel.

The Los Angeles Police Department confirmed Monday afternoon that its detectives were “working with the California Highway Patrol on the incident involving the two children and believe it is connected to the … homicide scene” at the apartment complex.

They were also working with the Redondo Beach Police Department to determine if the car crash was connected to those two deaths, LA police said on the social platform X.

Anyone with information was urged to call the highway patrol or Los Angeles police.