Girl, 3, fatally stabbed at LA garment factory where mother works; co-worker arrested
LOS ANGELES (FOX 11) - Miguel Lopez described where the parents of a 3-year-old girl were sitting when a colleague stabbed the child at their workplace.
Lopez said the father was toward the front of the clothing factory while the mother was sitting at a sewing table with her little girl next to her.
“They had just brought their daughter from a daycare to spend some time with them there and this tragic event happened,” Los Angeles Police Department Detective Moses Castillo said.
Detectives said out of nowhere, another employee, 34-year-old Ricardo Utuy, began stabbing the girl with a knife. Police said Utuy had only worked at the factory for the last two weeks and didn’t really know the parents.
“We still don’t know the motive he just attacked without any warning and stabbed this child multiple times,” Castillo said.
It happened Monday just after 5 p.m. inside a downtown building near Olympic and Alameda on the second floor. Lopez, who works at the same factory, said he heard the mom call for help.
“She said, 'my daughter, my daughter' and I saw her pick up the baby,” he said.
Police said the parents rushed the girl to the hospital, but flagged down an ambulance that took her the rest of the way.
The girl was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Utuy, who ran from the scene, later turned himself into LAPD’s Rampart station where he was booked for murder.
Detectives think he might have a dangerous past and they’re asking the public to take a good look at his photo and call investigators if they know him.
“If he’s capable of doing this heinous act to the most innocent of our children he’s capable of doing anything so we want to know more about him,” Castillo said.
Copyright 2016 FOX 11 Los Angeles: Download our mobile app for breaking news alerts or to watch FOX 11 News | Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. Be a citizen journalist for FOX 11 and get paid – download the Fresco News App today.