Inset: Luna Lacy (GoFundMe). Background: The trash bin in Los Angeles, California, that Luna's mother allegedly threw her in after killing her (KTTV).
A California teenager allegedly killed her 4-month-old daughter and threw her in the trash before the girl was discovered by a neighbor who initially thought she was a doll.
Takiyah Babers, 19, stands accused of murder in the death of her infant daughter, Luna Lacy, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
The investigation began around 10:30 p.m. Monday after neighbors discovered the baby in a trash bin in an apartment complex in the 5200 block of Alba Street.
Paramedics rushed Luna to the hospital where doctors pronounced her dead.
Local Fox affiliate KTTV reported that a neighbor was looking for recyclables in a bin when she saw a heavy bag. She turned her flashlight on her phone to look inside.
She saw what she first thought was a doll — then she realized it was actually a child. The neighbor had her daughter call 911.
Officers arrived and began investigating how the girl died and where she came from. Herman Johnson and Laura Lacy, who live in the complex, later told reporters that they happened to be watching a news report about the little girl's death — and saw that investigators had released a detail that shattered their lives.
The girl found in the trash had six toes, just like their granddaughter Luna.
Johnson and Lacy had been raising the girl since her birth on May 25. Johnson told local CBS affiliate WCAL that Babers, his foster daughter, was incapable of caring for the girl, so he and Lacy raised her. But Babers called him earlier on Monday and said she wanted to be with Luna, he said.
"I should have just kept her like I started to do, but that's just a back thought," Johnson said.
After they learned about the discovery of the baby and the connection to Luna from that news report, Johnson and Lacy demanded that Babers bring them the girl. That's when Babers allegedly started lying.
First, she said the girl was sleeping. Then, she said Luna was with her biological father, who had never been her life.
The grandparents contacted police. Not long after, cops took Babers into custody.
"It's a sad situation," Johnson told WCAL. "The baby can't protect herself. She was just an innocent little baby."
Babers is in the Los Angeles County Jail on a $2 million bond. Cops say the Los Angeles District Attorney will determine whether to file formal charges. Her next court date was not immediately listed.
Authorities have not said how the girl died or disclosed a motive for the slaying.
Luna's grandparents, meanwhile, are devastated.
"Why would you throw her away? She didn't do anything," Lacy said. "What did you call me to bring her home for? Why would you call me … and then do this to her? I don't believe this. I'm still in disbelief."