7-Year-Old Girl Found Dead In Van Nuys Bathtub Identified

VAN NUYS, CA — A 7-year-old girl who authorities allege was drowned by her mother in a bathtub in Van Nuys was identified today.

Police responded around 5:40 p.m. Friday to an apartment building in the 6800 block of Sepulveda Boulevard, between Basset and Vanowen streets, LAPD Media Relations told City News Service. The girl was pronounced dead at the scene.

She was identified Monday by the county Office of Medical Examiner as Rebecca Castellanos.

KTLA5 reported that the girl lived at the apartment with a man and a woman, and that the man allegedly discovered her lifeless body when he arrived home and began screaming for help.

The woman, identified by police as the girl's mother, was arrested at the scene.

The LAPD's Valley Bureau Homicide Division is handling the case, NBC4 reported.