Father pleads not guilty after 1-year-old child found dead in View Park

VIEW PARK-WINDSOR HILLS, Calif. (KABC) -- A father pleaded not guilty Monday to a felony count of child abuse resulting in death after his 1-year-old daughter was found unresponsive in a car in View Park.

The child, identified by the county Medical Examiner's office as Maeve Blakeley-Johnson, was found last Tuesday afternoon outside of a home in the 3800 Block of Chanson Drive. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Maeve's father, 40-year-old Edwin Wallace Johnson, was later arrested for involuntary manslaughter and child neglect.

The determination of the cause of the girl's death has been deferred, according to records from the Medical Examiner's office.

Johnson was initially arrested late last Tuesday, then released on bond Wednesday before being re-arrested that day, according to jail records, which indicated that he was subsequently released again on bond Saturday morning.

He is due back in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom Nov. 6. A date is scheduled to be set then for a hearing to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to allow the case against him to proceed to trial.

Defense attorney Jacob Glucksman said outside court, "My client's very grateful for the support from his family and friends. At the time, he's grieving and asking for his privacy.''

The investigation into the incident is ongoing. Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500.

City News Service contributed to this report.