🎙️ Voice is AI-generated. Inconsistencies may occur.
A mother has been arrested on suspicion of killing her infant daughter and throwing her 18-month-old off a balcony, before jumping off the platform herself.
Tierra Ortega, 24, is accused of homicide, attempted homicide and child abuse resulting in death following an incident in Upland, California, on February 26.
Upland Police said they received a call at around 11:30 a.m. to a report of a woman holding a small child head-first over the edge of a second-story landing at an address on the 600 block of N. Wedgewood Avenue.
Ortega is then alleged to have dropped the child off the balcony.
When officers arrived at the scene, they found the boy injured on the ground. The mother is then alleged to have also jumped off the balcony head-first, resulting in serious facial injuries.
While the pair were being treated for their injuries, officers located a baby girl aged around 7 months unresponsive and not breathing during a search of Ortega's home. The baby later died of skull fractures and other injuries, according to KABC.
The 18-month old boy is currently in a stable condition with a broken foot, police said.
"This is very unusual. It's extremely tragic," Upland Police Captain Marcelo Blanco told WITI. Blanco added the children's father has spoken to police but has "no idea what led to this."
Police are still investigating the incident, have so far been unable to come up with a motive.
"We're still trying to piece those parts together to in a sense [determine] what would cause someone to, if you will, throw their children from a second-story landing," Blanco told KABC.
Neighbors have described their shock at the incident.
"How can you explain something like that?" Raul Ramos told KABC. "Especially her own child."
"I would have never thought that she would be capable of doing anything like that, but mothers go through postnatal depression, it's a real thing," added Kaeleigh Calderon.
"There could have been something internally going on with her, it's just sad that it had to come to this end."
Police are asking those with information regarding this investigation to contact the Upland Police Department at (909) 946-7624 ext. 3206 and speak with Detective Richard Madrid.
If you have thoughts of suicide, confidential help is available for free at the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Call 1-800-273-8255. The line is available 24 hours, every day.
About the writer
Ewan Palmer is a Newsweek News Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on US politics, and Florida ... Read more