Khadiyjah Pendergraph, the mother of a 9-year-old girl that was found dead in her home, has been arrested by the Westminster Police.
Westminster police officers conducted a welfare check at a home on the 14100 Block of Goldenwest Street on Friday at around 12:04 p.m. after a concerned family member had called the police.
The police officers had to force their way into the home, where they found the young girl’s body with what the police officers termed to be “obvious signs of trauma.”
No one else was inside the residence at the time.
Police investigators later identified the girl’s mother, Pendergraph, 32, as a person of interest in her murder.
Pendergraph was found at a shopping center in Aliso Viejo where she was arrested. She was then booked at the Orange County Jail on murder charges.
The investigators do not believe that 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 Darin Lenyi, Westminster Chief of Police. “The members of the WPD grieve with the victim’s family and extend our deepest condolences.”
Police detectives are still investigating as they search for more evidence and speak to additional witnesses.
The Westminster Police Department is asking anyone with information to call Detective Marcela Lopez at 714-548-3773.
