Toddler whose body was found inside a duffel bag drowned, prosecutor says

Reporting from San Diego  —  A toddler whose body was found in a duffel bag at a U.S.-Mexico border crossing earlier this week probably was drowned, a prosecutor said Friday.

The man and woman traveling with the dead child were arraigned Friday on murder charges. Deputy Dist. Atty.Kurt Mechals said investigators believe the crime occurred in Whittier, where Johnny Lewis Hartley, 39, and Mercy Mary Becerra, 43, live.

Outside the courtroom, Mechals said that he did not know whether the child had drowned in a bathtub or swimming pool, but said it appeared to be a “residential-type drowning.”

Malnutrition and dehydration were contributing causes of death, he said.

According to Mechals, investigators still were trying to determine what relationship the defendants had to the child, since they are not the parents or related by blood.

He said he believed they know the child’s parents.

Hartley and Becerra were arrested Tuesday as they tried to cross the border from San Diego into Tijuana. They each pleaded not guilty Friday in San Diego Superior Court to a single count of murder.

Judge Frederick Maguire ordered the defendants to remain held in lieu of $2-million bail.

Few details about the case were discussed in the courtroom, but San Diego police said previously that Mexican authorities found the body of a young girl while screening the duffel bag at a pedestrian crossing in San Ysidro.

Hartley had been carrying the bag, police said, before he was sent to a secondary inspection area and the bag was put through an X-ray machine. He was turned over to U.S. Customs and Border Protection authorities, then to San Diego police homicide investigators.

A San Diego homicide lieutenant said Becerra ran off when Hartley was detained, but she was caught a short time later and handed over to U.S. authorities as well.

Mechals said Friday that the joint investigation by San Diego and Whitter law enforcement was in its early stages.

Hartley and Becerra stood side by side during their arraignment, mostly looking toward the floor.

Mechals said the child appeared to have died sometime this week, shortly before her body was found at the border. He said there were no reports of a missing child in connection with this case.

Authorities will not release the child’s identity or age “until we’ve confirmed who it is,” the prosecutor said. “We believe we know who it is, but until we’ve confirmed it, we’re going with Jane Doe as the identifying information.”

According to Orange County court records, Hartley pleaded guilty in 1999 to involuntary manslaughter and possessing, manufacturing or selling a deadly weapon. A gang enhancement was applied, and he was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison. He received the same sentenced in 2005 after being convicted of possessing drugs with the intent to sell.

After pleading guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm in 2010, Hartley was sentenced to three years in state prison.

Becerra’s criminal history appeared to be less substantial. She pleaded guilty in 1992 to a felony of selling or transporting a controlled substance, according to Orange County court records. She was sentenced to 180 days in jail and three years’ probation.

If convicted in the child’s death, Hartley and Becerra each face a potential sentence of 25 years to life in prison.

dana.littlefield@sduniontribune.com

Littlefield writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune

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UPDATES:

6:15 p.m.: This article has been updated with additional details

This article was originally published at 4:15 p.m.