A California couple remains jailed after pleading not guilty to killing their infant daughter, who passed away shortly after she returned to live with them.
San Diego police arrested Brandon Copeland, 21, and Elizabeth Ucman, 22, and charged them with the murder of their 3-month-old daughter, Delilah, last Tuesday. Both suspects appeared at the San Diego Superior Court on Monday morning for an arraignment, where they entered their not guilty plea before returning to jail without bail.
The San Diego Tribune reports that police arrived at the suspects’ home off of Maple Street in Colina Del Sol at around 11:18 p.m. on November 9, in response to a call regarding an unresponsive child. First responders rushed the baby to a local hospital, but she was pronounced dead.
“This baby went through living hell,” Adrienne Arnett (the child’s great grandmother and Ucman’s grandmother) told CBS 8. “Delilah is in Heaven. I can’t help her but there are so many other babies out there. I can’t save my grandbaby but maybe we can save some others.”
Children’s Services removed Delilah from the defendants’ home shortly after her birth, once the agency determined the defendants’ apartment was too dirty and unfit for an infant. After the couple cleaned up their apartment, however, they regained custody of their daughter, who had been staying with a great aunt.
“We have a whole family of people that would have taken care of this baby,” Arnett added. “I know my granddaughter was dangerous. I knew this, I told social services. ”
Anyone with information about the case should contact the Homicide Unit at (619) 531-2293 or Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.
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