Father arrested on suspicion of murder after daughter, 1, found dead in Los Angeles River
A man was arrested on suspicion of murder this week after his 1-year-old daughter was found dead in the Los Angeles River, Inglewood police said.
Inglewood police were called Sunday evening to the 300 block of North Market Street regarding a missing girl identified as Leilani Burley.
Leilani’s grandmother had called police when her son who lives with her — Jayveon Burley, 22, the girl’s father — returned home with only one of his two children after picking them up from their mother in Long Beach, police said.
The other child, a 3-year-old boy, was unharmed, KTLA-TV Channel 5 reported.
Austin Lee Edwards made violent threats in 2016 after experiencing relationship troubles, according to a police report.
“During the course of the investigation, with the assistance of Long Beach Police Department, Leilani’s remains were recovered in the Los Angeles River below the Ocean Boulevard Bridge,” at the river’s southern end in Long Beach, Inglewood police said in a release.
Jayveon Burley was arrested Monday on suspicion of murder and child endangerment and was booked into the Inglewood Police Department jail.
In an emotional interview with KABC-TV Channel 7, Leilani’s mother, identified by the news station as Lynisha Hull, said Burley was angry “but normal” when he arrived to pick up the children.
“He threw her off the bridge,” she said.
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