A mother has been arrested in California after being accused of drowning her 9-year-old daughter, who used a wheelchair, according to officials.
Authorities discovered the girl’s body on Nov. 24 during a welfare check at her home in Westminster, as reported by McClatchy News.
Khadiyjah Aliyyah Pendergraph, the girl’s mother, is accused of drowning her daughter, who was unable to speak, in the bathtub and leaving her body for several days, according to a news release by the Orange County District Attorney.
Authorities were alerted by the girl’s father, who reported his daughter missing after receiving concerning messages from Pendergraph. He attempted to pick her up for Thanksgiving, but was unable to make contact with anyone at Pendergraph’s apartment. Prosecutors stated that Pendergraph was arrested in a grocery store parking lot and has been charged with murder. If convicted, she faces 25 years to life in prison.
Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer stated, “Words simply do not exist to express the utter heartbreak knowing this little girl could not even scream for help as her mother pushed her underwater and cut her life so tragically and so unnecessarily short.”
Westminster is located approximately 30 miles southeast of Los Angeles.
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