Infant's Death At LAX Bus Stop Bench Came After Mom Struggled To Find Shelter: Report

LOS ANGELES, CA — The investigation into the death of a 16-month-old homeless girl who died at a bus stop near LAX last week continued Tuesday after the medical examiner conducted an autopsy.

The girl was identified Tuesday as 16-month-old Yayra Rutherford by the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner. Authorities have not yet determined her cause of death: The Los Angeles Police Department's Abused Child Unit is conducting an investigation.

The girl's mother told KNX News she doesn't know how or why Yayra died.

Police responded to Sepulveda and West Century boulevards at about 10:10 a.m. Friday where they found Yayra on a bus bench. KTLA reported the baby died of cardiac arrest.

The baby's mother spoke to KNX at the scene. She said she and her two children have been homeless since June.

"I've been reaching out to the PATH agency and any shelter that takes families. I'm on a wait list for everything. There's a wait list for public housing — they said they just now started getting to the 2017 applications," she told KNX. "So we were just out here and we slept at LAX because that was the only place we could go."

The mother told KNX that Yayra seemed like she was fine the night before, though she was a little fussy so she gave her some baby Benadryl.

The baby's sibling was placed in the custody of the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services, KFI reported.

City News Service contributed to this report.