LONG BEACH (CNS) - A Thousand Oaks woman and an Oceanside man pleaded not guilty Thursday in the kidnapping and murder of a 3-week-old Long Beach girl and the attempted murders of the baby's parents and uncle.
Giseleangelique Rene D'Milian, 48, and Anthony Ray McCall, 29, are charged in the Jan. 3 abduction and killing of Eliza De La Cruz, who was found dead in a trash bin in Imperial Beach in San Diego County the following day.
The two are also charged, along with Todd Damon Boudreaux, 43, of Fontana, in the attempted murder of a 23-year-old woman and the attempted kidnapping on Feb. 6 of her 4-month-old son in an El Segundo hotel room.
Long Beach police Chief Robert Luna alleged last month that D'Milian and McCall "came up with a plan to kidnap Eliza and pass her off as her (D'Milian's) own child."
D'Milian lied to her boyfriend last year, telling him she was pregnant with twins, according to the police chief. She later told him she had given birth to their twins in December while out of the country, but detectives determined that she had not given birth to any children in 2014, according to Luna.
Authorities allege D'Millian masterminded the kidnapping plot to secure two babies to continue the deception.
Eliza's mother was walking home with her infant daughter from a bus stop at Del Amo and Long Beach boulevards when a woman -- believed to be D'Milian -- pulled up next to them in a black Range Rover and asked about her baby, Luna said.
The police chief said the woman had a brief exchange with the mother, then drove away. He said detectives later determined that D'Milian and McCall had both been following the bus Eliza and her mother were on, in separate vehicles.
About 90 minutes after they got off the bus, McCall allegedly showed up at the De La Cruz home in the 100 block of West 51st Street, shot the three adults -- who all survived -- and abducted the baby.
"The reason baby Eliza was killed remains unknown," Luna said.
Authorities have not disclosed how the baby was killed.
About a month later, there was another attempt to steal a baby from a woman who was severely beaten in a hotel room in the 2000 block of East Mariposa Avenue in El Segundo, according to police. Her 4-month-old son was found inside the room and was not injured.
McCall allegedly fled the scene after employees knocked on the hotel room door after being alerted by patrons about a female yelling for help, police said.
Long Beach police said detectives determined that D'Milian had known the woman for several years and was aware that she had recently given birth. The woman was targeted because of the child's age and D'Milian's knowledge about where to find her, police allege.
Detectives believe D'Milian misrepresented that she had a charitable organization aimed at helping young mothers and infants, and contacted friends and acquaintances in an effort to find infants.
The three defendants were arrested March 25.
D'Milian and McCall are charged with one felony count each of murder, kidnapping and attempted kidnapping and four counts of attempted murder.
The criminal complaint alleges that McCall personally and intentionally discharged a handgun during the Jan. 3 attack and personally used a bat during the attack in El Segundo, and that McCall personally inflicted great bodily injury on the four attempted murder victims.
Boudreaux is charged with one felony count each of attempted murder and attempted kidnapping.