Officials in Riverside County are trying to determine what led to a tragic chain of events earlier this month that resulted in father tossing his infant daughter off a cliff.
The Sacramento Bee reports that on the morning of Wednesday, May 6th, police officers responded to a report of a stabbing that happened in an Indian Wells parking lot.
Police arrived to find a woman who was six-months pregnant with multiple injuries in a domestic violence assault by her husband.
In a statement, the Riverside County Sheriff’s department said that the suspect, 49-year-old Adam Slater left the parking lot with the couple’s one-year-old daughter.
A short time later, the California Highway Patrol received a call regarding a single-vehicle crash on Highway 47, which involved a vehicle similar to the one that Slater had been driving.
Authorities said in a statement that the vehicle had rolled several hundred feet from the highway. Good Samaritans who had witnessed the crash tried to offer assistance to Slater; instead, he ran to the passenger side of the vehicle and stabbed one of those helping to retrieve the child from the vehicle before wrenching the child away.
Eyewitnesses say that Slater then ran to the edge of a cliff and threw his infant daughter into the ravine below. A search team later found the infant dead at the bottom of the canyon.
For a free legal consultation, call (310) 896-2723
Slater was transported to an area hospital for treatment of injuries he sustained in the crash. Police arrested him on Thursday on the charge of first-degree murder, attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, a special circumstance allegation of committing a murder during the commission of a kidnapping, and other related charges.
Slater has pleaded not guilty. A court date has not yet been announced.
Call or text (310) 896-2723 or complete a Free Case Evaluation form