Bellflower baby death: Candlelight vigil held for baby Alexia Rose
BELLFLOWER, Calif. (KABC) -- A candlelight vigil was held Wednesday night for a baby girl found dead behind a Bellflower mortuary. Her father is missing and believed to be a person of interest in the infant's death.
Many who attended the vigil didn't know 8-month-old Alexia Rose Echeverria, but they're still hurting as a community.
Alexia's mother lives in Sacramento. Karla Alvarado sent flowers in honor of her baby. They rest a few feet from where her baby's body was left. She spoke to a news station in Sacramento.
"I was already starting to plan her first birthday party because I wanted to do something big, now I'm stuck just getting her funeral together," she cried.
RELATED: Mom of baby found dead in Bellflower says she got disturbing phone call from father
Her boyfriend, Alexander Echeverria, is a person of interest in their baby's death, but Alvarado said he is the one who left Alexia.
"He left her there like she was trash, you know? She didn't deserve that," Alvarado said.
She isn't exactly sure what happened, neither are authorities. But through family members, Alvarado heard it may initially have been an accident.
"He told him that he was playing with her, throwing her up, and he slipped and she fell and she wasn't waking up. He said he got scared and he drove to the hospital, but he never went in because he thought that nobody was going to believe him that it was an accident. So he said he started just driving and driving and driving, and next thing you know, he was already in L.A.," Alvarado shared.
The baby's body ended up in Bellflower next to a dumpster.
As authorities search for Echeverria, the tight-knit community of Bellflower is searching for answers.
"The baby was left here alone but as a community, she's been in our thoughts and prayers since, so in that respect, she's not alone," said Bellflower resident Estie Rico Jones.
According to Los Angeles County sheriff's investigators, Echeverria was driving a gray 2014 Volkswagen Jetta with the California license plate No. 7FFT866. Authorities said he has family in the Bellflower area. He is described by authorities as "at-risk" because his family says he suffers from depression.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to call Detective Blagg or Detective Lawler of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Missing Persons Detail at (323) 890-5500. Anonymous tips may be submitted to Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-Tips (8477).
