LOS ANGELES (AP) – The woman arrested on suspicion of killing her three young children in her Los Angeles apartment was embroiled in a dispute with their father on Sunday, according to a newspaper report.
Liliana Carrillo, 30, was arrested in Tulare County on Saturday after fleeing the gruesome scene and leading law enforcement officers on a long chase, authorities said.
The Los Angeles Times refers to family court documents showing that Eric Denton sought custody of the children – ages 3, 2 and 6 months – on March 1st.
On March 4, Denton requested a temporary order for emergency visits to the court and, according to the newspaper, requested a mental health evaluation of Carrillo. Orders were placed during a trial on March 26. Another trial in the case would take place on April 14.
In response, Carrillo filed a temporary restraining order against Denton in the Los Angeles County Supreme Court on March 12.
In a brief interview with the Times, Denton confirmed that he was the father of the three children – two girls and a boy – and said he was in a custody battle with Carrillo after she began acting mentally unstable.
Denton said he tried to get local authorities to intervene, but ‘in LA they would not help. The LAPD would not get involved. He said Carrillo was supposed to hand over the children to him on Sunday.
The grandmother of the children returned from work on Saturday morning and the bodies and the mother were missing, lt. Raul Jovel, Los Angeles police, said.
Police said initial reports indicate the children were stabbed to death, but no official cause of death has been released.
Los Angeles police initially received reports that Carrillo was driving her car and was heading north on Interstate 5 when she got into a fight in the Bakersfield area. She abandoned her car and hit another vehicle with a hood, Jovel said.
Carrillo was detained in the Ponderosa area of Tulare County, about 160 kilometers north of Bakersfield, police said.