BREAKING: BABY LUNA’S LIFE ENDS IN HEARTBREAKING TRAGEDY — MOTHER NOW FACES MURDER CHARGE

FOUR-MONTH-OLD LUNA BABERS WAS REMEMBERED AS A SWEET BABY WITH A BEAUTIFUL SMILE. NOW, HER FAMILY IS GRIEVING AS A CRIMINAL CASE UNFOLDS IN SOUTH LOS ANGELES.

Four-month-old Luna Babers should have had a lifetime of memories ahead of her.

Instead, the little girl’s life ended in a devastating discovery that left her foster grandparents, relatives and members of the South Los Angeles community struggling to understand what happened.

Luna was found unresponsive inside a dumpster on September 28 near the Pueblo Del Rio housing complex. Emergency responders rushed her to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

A BABY REMEMBERED FOR HER SMILE

Luna had been cared for primarily by her foster grandparents, Laura Lacy and Herman Johnson.

The couple said they had been caring for her since she was only about two weeks old and described her as a sweet, beautiful baby who brought enormous joy into their lives.

For them, Luna was never simply a name in a police investigation.

She was their granddaughter — a little girl they fed, cared for and watched grow during her short life.

THE DISCOVERY THAT SHOCKED THE COMMUNITY

On the night of September 28, a woman looking through a dumpster near Alba Street and Long Beach Avenue discovered the infant.

She initially thought she had found a doll before realizing the child was real and calling for help.

LAPD officers and firefighters responded shortly after 10:30 p.m. Luna was taken to a local hospital but could not be saved.

A makeshift memorial of flowers, balloons and candles was later created near the location where she was found.

HER MOTHER HAS NOW BEEN CHARGED

LAPD identified Luna’s biological mother as 19-year-old Takiyah Rochelle Babers.

Babers was arrested after detectives investigated the circumstances surrounding Luna’s death.

Prosecutors subsequently charged her with one count of murder and one felony count of assault on a child causing death.

Her bail was set at $2 million, and her next court appearance is scheduled for October 30.

The allegations against Babers remain allegations, and the criminal case has not been decided in court.

NEW MEDICAL FINDING

Earlier reports said investigators had not yet publicly established exactly how Luna died.

That has now changed.

CBS Los Angeles reports that the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner determined Luna’s cause of death to be blunt trauma.

Investigators are continuing to examine the circumstances surrounding her final hours.

A FAMILY LEFT WITH QUESTIONS

Lacy and Johnson have spoken openly about their grief.

They said they had allowed Babers to visit Luna and had brought the baby to her on the evening before the discovery.

When they later learned that an infant had been found in a dumpster nearby, they rushed back to the neighborhood.

The discovery that followed was devastating.

Lacy has repeatedly spoken about her love for Luna and her desperate desire to understand why the tragedy happened.

A COMMUNITY MOURNS

Candles, flowers and balloons have been placed at a memorial near the scene.

Neighbors and community members have gathered to remember a baby whose life lasted only four months.

For those closest to Luna, the case is about much more than the criminal investigation.

It is about a little girl who had barely begun to discover the world.

THE CASE IS STILL UNFOLDING

Babers’ next court hearing is scheduled for October 30.

As the legal process continues, investigators are still working to establish the full circumstances surrounding Luna’s death.

But for her grandparents, the most important part of the story will always be the child they remember.

A sweet baby. A beautiful smile. A little girl who deserved a lifetime — not just four months.