By Lookout Staff

January 9, 2026 -- A mother has been charged with the extremely violent murder of her 17-month-old daughter, who was found by police in a Santa Monica apartment Tuesday.

Carmen Anita Degregg, 24, was charged with one count each of murder and felony assault on a child under eight causing death, the LA County District Attorney's Office announced Thursday.

If convicted as charged, Degregg faces up to 25 years to life in state prison, the DA's office said.

“The allegations in this case describe extreme violence against a child who was entirely vulnerable and unable to protect herself,” District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman said in a statement.

“When a parent is accused of causing a child’s death, our office has a duty to act decisively and to seek the maximum accountability permitted by law.”

The child was found Tuesday by Santa Monica police responding to an apartment on the 2200 block of Broadway after UCLA Police notified them shortly before noon that an adult female had been detained on the Westwood campus.

The woman informed campus police that "she had harmed her child and left the child inside" the apartment, police said.

Responding officers found the child inside "with significant injuries," said Lt. Lewis Gilmour, the Police Department spokesman.

The Santa Monica Fire Department responded and transported the baby to a local area hospital, where she was later pronounced dead.

Degregg was taken into custody and transported to the Santa Monica Jail. According to inmate records, she was transported Thursday to the Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood.

Her arraignment is scheduled for Friday in Department 30 of the Foltz Criminal Justice Center in Downtown Los Angeles. Bail has been set at $2 million.

The case is being prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney MacKenzie Teymouri of the Family Violence Division’s Complex Child Abuse Section and remains under investigation by the Santa Monica Police Department.