The California parents of an 8-month-old girl who was found with “serious burns to much of her body” have been arrested for her murder, officials in Sacramento County said Thursday.
The young victim, Jannah Abughazaleh, was found unresponsive on Aug. 25, the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.
Her father, Hussein Abughazaleh, and mother, Kristina Siedlecki, told investigators the girl had “sustained the injuries during a bath” days earlier.
While they watched the girl’s condition deteriorate for several days, the parents decided not to seek medical attention because they didn’t want to involve Child Protective Services (CPS), authorities said. Both parents admitted they knew the girl was dying but were afraid of being arrested.
After a recently released autopsy report ruled the girl’s death a homicide, detectives obtained arrest warrants for both Abughazaleh and Siedlecki.
They were taken into custody on Tuesday and booked into Sacramento County Jail, where they remain ineligible for bail. They were scheduled to appear in court Thursday afternoon.
The baby’s paternal grandmother, Naomi Magness, told local NBC affiliate KCRA she was worried about the girl’s well-being and previously contacted CPS.
After not hearing back from the office, she called an abuse hotline which directed her to the sheriff’s office. County officials later confirmed little Jannah had died.
Magness feels CPS failed to protect her granddaughter.
“She lost her life. She didn’t even have a chance to live a life and you screwed up not taking the baby out,” she said, addressing the office.
