The mother of a 17-month-old girl found mortally wounded inside a Santa Monica apartment made her first court appearance Friday on charges of murder and assault on a child causing death — but her arraignment was postponed and she was ordered to remain held in lieu of $2 million bail.
Carmen Anita Degregg, 24, wore an anti-suicide smock Friday during her appearance in a downtown L.A. courtroom. Her formal arraignment was rescheduled for Feb. 19.
Degregg was arrested Tuesday and faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted as charged, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
Police were notified shortly before 11:54 a.m. Tuesday that UCLA Police had detained a woman on campus after she made statements indicating she had harmed her child and left the infant inside an apartment in the 2000 block of Broadway, according to the Santa Monica Police Department.
Officers responded to the residence, where the child was found inside an apartment with “significant injuries,” police said. Santa Monica Fire Department personnel took the child to a hospital, where the toddler was pronounced dead, police said.
Police said the cause and manner of the child’s death will be determined by the Los Angeles County medical examiner’s office. The girl’s name has not been released.
Law enforcement officials familiar with the case told NBC4 that a frying pan was involved. It’s unclear in what way the pan was used.
“The allegations in this case describe extreme violence against a child who was entirely vulnerable and unable to protect herself,” District Attorney Nathan Hochman said in a statement. “When a parent is accused of causing a child’s death, our office has a duty to act decisively and to seek the maximum accountability permitted by law.”
Richard Mejia, director of emergency communications and information at UCLA, said Degregg “has no known affiliation with the university.”
Karla Rendon contributed to this report.