Mother Jailed After Throwing Her Toddler From & Jumping From 2nd Floor

UPLAND, Calif. – A 24-year-old Upland mother is facing murder charges after allegedly killing her infant daughter and attempting to kill her toddler.

On Tuesday, February 26, 2019, at around 11:30 a.m., Upland Police officers were dispatched to 655 N. Wedgewood Avenue for the report of a child screaming. The reporting party told dispatchers that the mother of a 1 ½-year-old child was holding the child over the second-story landing. The distraught woman dropped the baby, allowing her to fall to the ground. Officers arrived shortly after and located the small child on the ground. While the officers were at the scene, the mother, identified as Tierra Ortega jumped head first from the second-story landing.

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Officers provided aid to the small child and the mother. Additional officers responded to the scene and conducted a safety sweep of the family’s apartment. Inside the home, they located an unresponsive 6-7-month old girl. The baby was not breathing. The mother and two children were transported to a local hospital and the two babies were subsequently airlifted to Loma Linda Medical Center. The infant girl, Ezlynn Xariah Ortegadied as a result of her injuries.

Ortega was treated for multiple facial injuries and was booked into the West Valley Detention Center for murder, attempted murder, and child abuse resulting in death. . She is being held without bail and is scheduled to appear at the Rancho Cucamonga Superior Court on Thursday, February 28, 2918.

Detectives are continuing the investigation to determine a motive in this very tragic incident. Crime Scene Investigators will be out at the scene well into the evening hours. Any information regarding this investigation, please contact the Upland Police Department at (909) 946-7624 ext. 3206 and speak with Detective Richard Madrid.