(L.A.) Sierra Denton Carrillo, a Baby, Died by the Hands of Her Mother

Case Number: 2021-05003

Los Angeles County is reporting the death of a Caucasian female that occurred at a residence in Reseda.

The coroner’s office has identified the infant girl as Sierra Denton Carrillo.

Manner of Death: Homicide

Cause of Death: Combined Effects of Stab Wound of Chest and Drowning

RIP SIERRA DENTON CARRILLO (October 18, 2020 – April 10, 2021)

Formal pronouncement of death was made on Saturday at 9:43 a.m.

The decedent, along with her two siblings, were killed by their mother Liliana Carrillo.

The children’s father Erik Denton had told police and child welfare agencies that the mother of his children, Liliana Carrillo, appeared to be experiencing “psychosis.” She had been exhibiting signs of postpartum depression since the birth of the second of their three children.

He and his cousin, Teri Miller, an emergency room physician, used what they believed were the appropriate avenues to report the mother’s worrisome behavior. They said they asked everyone they could think of for help. But no one seemed able to do anything.

In 2021, Denton filed a lawsuit suit against the city of Los Angeles and Los Angeles County, alleging that LAPD officers were negligent.

“Central to this case is several LAPD officers’ failure to meet the basic requirements of their duties as mandatory reporters of child abuse and neglect,” Denton’s lawyers argue in their court papers.

LAPD took a report of possible molestation of the children in February 2021, yet did not prepare a required suspected child abuse electronic report or notify the county Department of Children and Family Services.

A month later, LAPD officers responded to a call by Denton, who had an emergency custody order directing that Carrillo turn over custody of the children to the plaintiff, according to Denton’s attorneys’ court papers, which further state that the police report documents that Carrillo was possibly suffering from an unknown mental illness.

“These colossal failures raise serious questions about what the officers present during these interactions knew, what training they had about how to engage with and navigate allegations that a mother suffering from mental illness might kill her own children and what training they had about other resources available to take action to prevent the children’s deaths,” Denton’s lawyers wrote.