CA - 3-year old boy found dead in bathtub with throat slit - FEB. 21, 2024

[Clearsky]

Toddler found dead with his throat slit at home in Lancaster

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department is investigating the killing of a toddler in a Lancaster home as a homicide.

www.latimes.com

A family friend found a 3-year-old boy with his throat slit in a bathtub in his Lancaster home Tuesday night, according to sources and the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department.

 

[tlcya]

 

[LovesPeace2]

Toddler found dead with his throat slit at home in Lancaster

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department is investigating the killing of a toddler in a Lancaster home as a homicide.

www.latimes.com

A family friend found a 3-year-old boy with his throat slit in a bathtub in his Lancaster home Tuesday night, according to sources and the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department.

Omg rest in paradise little one

 

[jbc]

May the full wrath of society rain down on the monster who did that.

 

[LovesPeace2]

Just omg ,I wish this would just stop. Jmoo so bloody sad

 

[LadyL]

RIP little one. Fly high with the angels for you are one of them now.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

No. Why?

The biological father of the toddler, Herbett Hernandez, said he is utterly devastated over his child's death and is in disbelief.

"What did he do for this psycho, monster, whoever, did that to my baby?" the elder Hernandez said.

The grieving father was in an on-again, off-again relationship with the boy's mother for the last 13 years. They had been separated for the last four months.

According to the sheriff's department, there were three other children in the home. All were unharmed and were placed in the custody of the County Department of Children and Family Services. The Times reported those children are ages 9, 11 and 14.

3-year-old boy killed in Lancaster home identified; Mother's boyfriend named a person of interest

Authorities have identified the 3-year-old boy whose neck was slashed in Lancaster earlier this week, and the investigation was continuing into his death.

www.nbclosangeles.com

 

[Dawookie]

As a pretty much lifelong resident of Lancaster, it's mind boggling how this is happening more and more here. Just a few months ago there were two kids were murdered and two siblings hospitalized from abuse by their father. A few years before that four kids were shot and killed by their father. Around the same time you had two decapitated by their father. I can't recall any cases like this from when I was growing up or even as I got older.

Then there's the cases involving DCFS and children known to them in the Antelope Valley. Anthony Avalos, Noah Cuatro(2019)and Gabriel Fernandez(2013). On top of those, from 2015-2018 there were either 10 or 11( not sure if Anthony is included in that timeline) other deaths of children by caregivers in the Lancaster/Palmdale area.

 

[TTF14]

Another "Mom's Boyfriend" killer. So sad . Lancaster mother’s live-in boyfriend arrested in killing of 3-year-old boy

 

[imstilla.grandma]

The toddler, David Hernandez, was found with his throat cut in the 43400 block of 57th Street West when deputies arrived around 10:55 p.m., officials said. He was pronounced dead at a hospital.

The Los Angeles County medical examiner reported his manner of death as homicide and cause as “an incised wound of the neck.”

Investigators said Naulls is the live-in boyfriend of the victim’s mother and named him “a person of interest” in the case. Naulls was admitted to the hospital and listed in stable condition, police said.

Authorities name mother's boyfriend as person of interest in slaying of 3-year-old boy

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said Rena Naulls, the mother's live-in boyfriend, is 'a person of interest' in the murder of toddler David Hernandez.

www.latimes.com

 

[Dawookie]

The toddler, David Hernandez, was found with his throat cut in the 43400 block of 57th Street West when deputies arrived around 10:55 p.m., officials said. He was pronounced dead at a hospital.

The Los Angeles County medical examiner reported his manner of death as homicide and cause as “an incised wound of the neck.”

Investigators said Naulls is the live-in boyfriend of the victim’s mother and named him “a person of interest” in the case. Naulls was admitted to the hospital and listed in stable condition, police said.

Authorities name mother's boyfriend as person of interest in slaying of 3-year-old boy

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said Rena Naulls, the mother's live-in boyfriend, is 'a person of interest' in the murder of toddler David Hernandez.

www.latimes.com

According to the LASD inmate locator he's been arrested.

 

[Knox]

The toddler, David Hernandez, was found with his throat cut in the 43400 block of 57th Street West when deputies arrived around 10:55 p.m., officials said. He was pronounced dead at a hospital.

The Los Angeles County medical examiner reported his manner of death as homicide and cause as “an incised wound of the neck.”

Investigators said Naulls is the live-in boyfriend of the victim’s mother and named him “a person of interest” in the case. Naulls was admitted to the hospital and listed in stable condition, police said.

Authorities name mother's boyfriend as person of interest in slaying of 3-year-old boy

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said Rena Naulls, the mother's live-in boyfriend, is 'a person of interest' in the murder of toddler David Hernandez.

www.latimes.com

Why didn't he attempt to unalive himself before he murdered a three-year old child?

 

[24Roses]

Why didn't he attempt to unalive himself before he murdered a three-year old child?

IMO-he never intended to commit suicide. He only did it because he killed the little boy. I hate to say it, but IMO he might of been angry with him because of having a potty accident or maybe even was worried he was abusing the little boy and would be caught.

 

[LaborDayRN]

LANCASTER, Calif. - Authorities have identified the 3-year-old Lancaster boy whose neck was slashed earlier this week, as a homicide investigation into his death continues.
Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies responded to a report of a child bleeding and not breathing inside a home in the 43400 block of 57th Street West just before 11 p.m. Tuesday.

At the scene, authorities found the toddler suffering from cuts, lacerations, or stab wounds to his neck. He was taken to the hospital where he died from his injuries, officials said. He was identified on Thursday by the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner as David Jacques Hernandez.

A man at the home, later identified as 39-year-old Rena Naulls, was also taken to the hospital for treatment after attempting to take his own life, the sheriff's department said. Naulls is the live-in boyfriend of the boy's mother.

Lancaster 3-year-old whose neck was slashed identified; homicide investigation continues

Authorities have identified the 3-year-old Lancaster boy whose neck was slashed earlier this week as David Jacques Hernandez. Sheriff's officials were investigating the death as a homicide.

www.foxla.com

 

[LaborDayRN]

I couldn't find a thread for this wee one and so I started a thread. I'll notify a mod and see if they can delete my thread (if they already haven't).

 

[patternsfinder]

As a pretty much lifelong resident of Lancaster, it's mind boggling how this is happening more and more here. Just a few months ago there were two kids were murdered and two siblings hospitalized from abuse by their father. A few years before that four kids were shot and killed by their father. Around the same time you had two decapitated by their father. I can't recall any cases like this from when I was growing up or even as I got older.

Then there's the cases involving DCFS and children known to them in the Antelope Valley. Anthony Avalos, Noah Cuatro(2019)and Gabriel Fernandez(2013). On top of those, from 2015-2018 there were either 10 or 11( not sure if Anthony is included in that timeline) other deaths of children by caregivers in the Lancaster/Palmdale area.

This was interesting to read. I also grew up out there, and when I see one of these stories it just confirms my experience growing up in the area in the 80s and 90s. At least since the early 90s Lancaster has had notoriously high child abuse and child abuse death rates. (Here's a 1992 LA Times story about it.) But it's possible local AV news didn't cover it as well.

Every time one of these stories appear, I click on it, almost subconsciously hoping it might have some clue as to why this continues to be such a high child abuse environment. The area has changed so dramatically since the that 1992 article was written, and yet this 2024 article is just a less detailed echo of the same story.

 

[Dawookie]

This was interesting to read. I also grew up out there, and when I see one of these stories it just confirms my experience growing up in the area in the 80s and 90s. At least since the early 90s Lancaster has had notoriously high child abuse and child abuse death rates. (Here's a 1992 LA Times story about it.) But it's possible local AV news didn't cover it as well.

Every time one of these stories appear, I click on it, almost subconsciously hoping it might have some clue as to why this continues to be such a high child abuse environment. The area has changed so dramatically since the that 1992 article was written, and yet this 2024 article is just a less detailed echo of the same story.

Yeah I don't remember it being covered very well at all from the AV Press.

It's sad that 30+ years later, the issues with DCFS are still the same and they havent figured out a way to fix the failures. So many of the cases have been preventable had someone just paid attention and done the right thing

 

[tlcya]

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office said Naulls served 14 years in state prison on an attempted murder case. He was on parole when the little boy died. The DA’s office says he was arrested for possession of a firearm, which is a parole violation.

According to the documents, three older brothers ages 9, 11, and 14, were also in the home during the time of David's death. They were not injured.
New Details in Death of Lancaster 3 Year Old Boy

 

[ChatteringBirds]

JMO. I wish this man had not been in the lives of these children. This boy was only three years old.