Rancho Palos Verdes Woman Pleads No Contest In Daughter's Death

RANCHO PALOS VERDES, CA — A Rancho Palos Verdes woman pleaded no contest Tuesday to charges stemming from the death of her 2-year-old daughter, who was left in a car with the heater running in an unincorporated area near Torrance.

Lacey Ana Mazzarella, now 35, is facing 14 years and eight months in state prison in connection with her plea to one count each of voluntary manslaughter, mayhem and child abuse resulting in death, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.

Sheriff's deputies responding to the 22400 block of South Vermont Avenue on Sept. 23, 2019, found the woman's daughter, June Love Augosto, unresponsive. The toddler was pronounced dead at an area hospital.

Mazzarella left her daughter in the car with the engine and heater both running in West Carson, then returned to the vehicle the next morning, according to Deputy District Attorney David Zygielbaum.

Mazzarella was arrested Oct. 2, 2019, and has remained behind bars since then. She is due back in a Compton courtroom Jan. 13 for sentencing.

- City News Service and Patch Editor Nicole Charky contributed to this report.

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