A 2-year-old girl was drowned before her body was put in a duffel bag and discovered by agents at the Mexico border, prosecutors said Friday.
John Lewis Hartley, 38, and Mercy Mary Becerra, 43, were arrested after police discovered the body in a bag when they were attempting to cross the border into Mexico. Both have pleaded not guilty to murder.
During their arraignment hearing on Friday, prosecutors said that the 2-year-old’s cause of death was drowning and malnutrition, reports ABC 7. They believe the drowning happened in Whittier.
Hartley and Becerra knew the girl, but were not her parents.
If convicted, the defendants each face 25 years to life in prison.
