The daughters of a US Army veteran whose death was discovered in a homeless encampment on the outskirts of downtown are questioning the Los Angeles Police Department’s handling of their mother’s case.
Lucrecia Macias Barajas, 46, was discovered dead on May 12 by one of her three children, who tracked her mother’s cellphone to a big, tarp-covered shelter in a notorious Westlake cul-de-sac. Another lifeless body, that of an unidentified guy, was discovered inside, along with two live dogs, according to officials.
A homeowner captured video of the youngster crying on the ground after making the awful discovery and later begged cops to remove her mother’s body.
The LAPD described the death as a probable drug overdose and informed The Times at the time that it was not investigating the case as a homicide.
However, the dead woman’s kids claim the LAPD was too hasty to rule out foul play.
Among other odd circumstances surrounding the death, the daughters claim that the entrance to the shelter structure was locked from the outside. They also stated that someone who was in the vicinity hours before the bodies were discovered heard a woman plead for help.
Hans Salinas, 25, told The Times that he and his girlfriend had fallen asleep in his car in a parking area near the shelter when the sound of a man and a woman arguing awoke him at 3:30 a.m. on May 11.
“She was screaming: ‘Help, help, I need help,” he told her. “After that it went silent.”
LAPD authorities said they want to investigate the family’s complaints.
In a written comment to The Times, the office of Los Angeles Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, whose district includes Westlake, stated that it was in contact with the LAPD to “ensure the family gets the answers they deserve.”
Barajas’ daughters have urged The Times not to identify them, citing concerns for their safety.
The girls gave a reporter a police detective’s card with the words “overdose investigation” printed on the back. They also stated that the app they use to track their mother’s phone indicated she had arrived at the campground two hours before Salinas heard the screaming.
The same software followed their mother’s phone to a park three blocks away from the crime scene, hours after the remains had been taken, they claimed.
The daughters have also accused police of neglecting to secure the crime scene and enabling evidence to go, including security cameras linked to the tent-like structure and their mother’s cellphone.
The resident’s video, obtained by TV news channel NBC4, shows someone pulling down the cameras.
They also stated that two dogs, a pit bull mix and a shepherd mix, were inside with the remains for at least eight hours after her body was discovered. The daughter who discovered her mother’s body claimed the dogs had eaten into the corpse, but officials couldn’t prove that.
She stated her mother’s body was not removed from the improvised shelter until early the next day, Tuesday, when animal services arrived to remove the dogs.