California mother arrested for allegedly murdering her 9-year-old daughter

A mother in southern California has been arrested and booked on suspicion of murder after allegedly killing her own daughter. 

Khadiyjah Aliyyah Ali Pendergraph, 32, was apprehended at an Orange County mall on Black Friday and taken into custody after law enforcement discovered the 9-year-old child's body at their home.

According to the New York Post, shortly after noon on Friday, Westminster Police were called to a home on the 14100 block of Goldenwest Street in Westminster, a town southwest of Anaheim, after a concerned family member called 911. 

After forcing their way into the home to conduct a welfare check, officers came across the child's body, and found that she had obvious signs of trauma.

Her mother was not home when law enforcement arrived, however she was quickly tracked down and arrested at a shopping center in Aliso Viejo, around 20 miles away.

Pendergraph was subsequently booked into Orange County Jail on suspicion of murder. 
 

"While police officers are exposed to tragedies on a daily basis, this murder is particularly disturbing due to the senseless loss of a child allegedly at the hands of her own mother," Westminster Police Chief Darin Lenyi said. "The members of the WPD grieve with the victim's family and extend our deepest condolences."

The investigation is ongoing, and authorities have asked anyone who may have information to contact Detective Marcela Lopez at 714-548-3773 or anonymously via Orange County Crime Stoppers at 855-847-6287.