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Arrests Made In Connection With Kidnapping, Killing Of 3-Week-Old Long Beach Girl

LONG BEACH (CBSLA.com) — Multiple suspects have been arrested in connection with the kidnapping and death of a 3-week-old Long Beach girl whose body was found in a San Diego County trash bin, police said Wednesday.

The arrests of two men and two women were made just a week after authorities released composite drawings of two suspects wanted in connection with the Jan. 3 abduction of Eliza De La Cruz, whose body was found the following day.

Officials said the case began when authorities responded to a Long Beach home and found several people with gunshot wounds, including the baby's parents and uncle.

De La Cruz was nowhere to be found and a day later, the infant's body was located more than 120 miles from her home in a trash bin at a commercial strip mall in Imperial Beach.

Her family members survived the shooting.

Police said about 90 minutes before the shooting, De La Cruz's mother was walking home with her infant daughter from a bus stop at Del Amo and Long Beach boulevards when a woman in a black SUV pulled up next to them and asked about her baby.

Police say after a brief verbal exchange, the victim walked home. Later that day, a man forced his way into the victim's home, shooting three adults and kidnapping baby De La Cruz, police said.

Police have since identified the driver of the SUV as Giseleangelique Rene D'Milian, 47, of Thousand Oaks and said D'Milian lied to her married boyfriend about giving birth to his twins. According to police, she wanted to continue the lie so she contacted friends and acquaintances to find infants and established a nonprofit foundation for young mothers.

Police said D'Milian and Anthony Ray McCall, 29, of Oceanside were arrested and booked on suspicion of murder, kidnapping, attempted murder, and conspiracy. Both were being held on no bail.

McCall is also accused of attempting to kidnap a second baby in El Segundo a month later. In that incident, police said officers responded to a disturbance call at a hotel involving a 4-month-old. Authorities said that baby's mother was attacked with a baseball bat.

"The woman was specifically targeted because of her child's age and because D'Milian knew where to find her. D'Milian put a plan into motion to have McCall kill the mother in El Segundo and kidnap the baby so D'Milian could pretend to be its mother and convince her boyfriend that it was their son," Long Beach Police Chief Robert Luna said at an afternoon news conference.

D'Milian's daughter, 29-year-old Charisse Nicole Shelton of Corona, and Todd Damon Boudreaux, 43, of Fontana were also arrested and booked on suspicion of being accessories after the fact. Shelton's bail was set at $1 million, while Boudreaux was being held on no bail.

Police have not released why or how De La Cruz was killed.

Police made the arrests after they said they received several tips from people who recognized them from the composite drawings, as well as the SUV from surveillance video.

The suspects are scheduled to be arraigned Friday.

(©2015 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)

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