Mom arrested at mall after 9-year-old daughter found dead in California home

WESTMINSTER, Calif. (KTLA) — Police in Southern California have arrested the mother of a 9-year-old girl who was found dead inside her home.

Officers responded to calls for a welfare check at a home in Westminster, about 32 miles south of Los Angeles, around 12:04 p.m. Friday.

A concerned family member had contacted officers to conduct the welfare check, according to the Westminster Police Department.

The officers eventually forced their way into the home and discovered a young girl with “obvious signs of trauma,” police said. There was no one else inside the residence at the time.

Investigators later identified the girl’s mother, 32-year-old Khadiyjah Pendergraph, as a person of interest in her murder.

Pendergraph was located at a shopping center in Aliso Viejo where she was taken into custody. She was booked at the Orange County Jail on murder charges.

The police department said there are no more suspects at this time, and the case “appears to be an isolated incident.”

“While police officers are exposed to tragedies on a daily basis, this murder is particularly disturbing, due to the senseless loss of a child allegedly at the hands of her own mother,” said Westminster Chief of Police Darin Lenyi. “The members of the WPD grieve with the victim’s family and extend our deepest condolences.”

Detectives are still investigating as they search for more evidence and speak to additional witnesses. Anonymous tips can be submitted to Orange County Crime Stoppers at 1-855-TIP-OCCS or online at occrimestoppers.org.