Infant’s death tied to 2 other deadly scenes in Southern California

A man, a woman, and an infant are dead, while another child is hospitalized in a horrific homicide investigation that involves three separate crime scenes in Southern California.

It began with the discovery of two children on the 405 Freeway in Culver City Monday morning, then, a short time later, a fatal single-car crash in Redondo Beach. Finally, the body of a man believed to have been stabbed to death was found in an upscale apartment building in Woodland Hills.

He was later identified by the coroner as Jaelen Allen Chaney, a 29-year-old man from Woodland Hills.

Neighbors of the man and woman say they sometimes heard the couple fighting but never expected anything like this to happen.

One neighbor happened upon the bloody scene right outside her family’s Woodland Hills home at the Montecito Apartments at 6203 Variel Ave. at about 7:30 a.m.

“I walk out our front door, and immediately to the left of our front door is their door,” the neighbor, who did not want to be identified, told KTLA’s Mary Beth McDade. “Their door was open, and I saw there was blood on the floor, leading into their unit and a trail of it leading into the hallway leading to the elevator.”

The neighbor immediately told her father, who found the man covered in blood and called 911.

They say the man lived in the apartment with his female partner, both described as being in their 30s, and their two daughters, an infant and a 9-year-old.

The woman reportedly grabbed the two children and fled the Woodland Hills apartment in her Porsche, allegedly crashing through the garage’s gate. The two children were later discovered on the 405 Freeway, near the Howard Hughes exit, at around 4:30 a.m.

At an earlier press conference, officials with the California Highway Patrol said they found two girls at the scene: an infant believed to be 5 or 6 months old in the roadway and a girl between 7 and 9 years old on the right shoulder.

The infant was pronounced dead at the scene, while the other girl was hospitalized with minor injuries.

“At the moment, it’s unknown how those minors arrived onto the freeway,” said CHP Officer Diaz. “This is where we’re requesting the public’s assistance.”

Witnesses reported that a black sedan was seen in the area around the time of the crash.

Detectives with the Los Angeles Police Department said on  X, formerly Twitter, that they were working with California Highway Patrol and believed that scene was connected to the Woodland Hills homicide.

Authorities added that they were also collaborating with the Redondo Beach Police Department to determine if a fatal crash at around 5 a.m. was also connected to the homicide in Woodland Hills.

In that incident, the driver, reportedly the same woman from the Woodland Hills and 405 Freeway scenes, was driving on Pacific Coast Highway near the intersection of Vincent Street when she crashed into a tree in Redondo Beach.

Medical personnel with the Redondo Beach Fire Department responded and located an unresponsive female driver, who was later declared dead at the scene.

“We just feel so sorry for all of them, especially the kids,” the neighbor who discovered the man told KTLA.

Authorities are continuing to investigate the three deaths.

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