LOS ANGELES (AP) – The woman arrested on suspicion of killing her three young children in her Los Angeles apartment had been involved in a custody dispute with her father, according to a report on Sunday.
Liliana Carrillo, 30, was arrested Saturday in Tulare County after fleeing the gruesome scene and leading law enforcement in a long-distance chase, authorities said.
The Los Angeles Times cites family court documents showing Eric Denton requested custody of the children (3, 2 and 6 months) on March 1st.
Denton applied to the court for a temporary emergency visit order on March 4 and requested an assessment of Carrillo’s mental health, according to the newspaper. The orders were drafted at a March 26 hearing. Another hearing of the case was scheduled for April 14th.
In response, Carrillo filed a temporary restraining order against domestic violence against Denton on March 12 in the Los Angeles County Superior Court, according to the documentation.
In a brief interview with the Times, Denton confirmed that he was the father of three children (two girls and a boy) and said he had been in a custody battle with Carrillo after she began acting mentally unstable.
Denton said he tried to get local authorities to intervene, but “in Los Angeles they would not help. The LAPD would not be involved. ” He said Carrillo had to hand over the children to him on Sunday.
The children’s grandmother returned home from work Saturday morning and found the bodies and mother missing, Los Angeles Police Lt. Raul Jovel said.
Police said initial reports suggested the children had been stabbed to death, but no official cause of death has been released.
Los Angeles police initially received reports that Carrillo was driving his car and was heading north on Interstate 5 when he got into an altercation in the Bakersfield area. He abandoned his car and attacked another vehicle, Jovel said.
Carrillo was arrested in the Ponderosa area of Tulare County, about 160 miles north of Bakersfield, police said.