California mother charged with murder in death of daughter with CP

From San Leandro Patch in Calif.:

The Alameda County District Attorney charged a San Leandro mother with murder on Monday in the death of her 8-year-old daughter, who was severely disabled.

The mother, Christel Johnson, 53, known to friends and neighbors as Jenny, is currently in police custody.

A caregiver discovered Johnson and her daughter Lylah, who suffered from cerebral palsy, on Friday afternoon inside a van in the family's garage. The car engine was running, and a hose was hooked from the tailpipe into the vehicle, according to Lt. Jeff Tudor, spokesman for the San Leandro Police Department.

The girl was unconscious; Christel Johnson was semi-conscious, police said.

Lylah was taken to Children's Hospital in Oakland, where she was pronounced dead. The mother was taken to Eden Medical Center.

San Leandro police are calling Lylah Johnson's death the third homicide of the year.