Arraignment Postponed For Mother Charged With Murder In Death Of 17-Month-Old

SANTA MONICA, CA — A mother accused of killing her 17-month-old daughter, who was found injured in a Santa Monica apartment, made her first court appearance Friday, but her arraignment was postponed.

Carmen Anita Degregg, 24, was ordered to remain held on $2 million bail, and her formal arraignment was rescheduled for Feb. 19.

Degregg was charged Thursday with murder and assault on a child causing death, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.

University of California, Los Angeles, police notified Santa Monica police that a woman had been detained on the university’s campus, the Santa Monica Police Department said.

According to police, the woman had made “statements indicating she had harmed her child and left the child inside an apartment in the 2000 block of Broadway.”

When officers arrived at the apartment in the Pico Neighborhood of Santa Monica, they found a child “with significant injuries,” police said.

Santa Monica Fire Department rescuers arrived on scene and took the toddler to a hospital, police said, adding that the child was later pronounced dead.

The woman was taken into custody, police said.

The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's office will determine the cause and manner of death, police said.

An investigation is ongoing, police said.

If convicted as charged, Degregg faces 25 years to life in prison, prosecutors said.

City News Service contributed to this report.