A Los Angeles judge on Tuesday ruled that a woman charged in the 2017 deaths of her newborn and her 7-year-old daughter was legally insane at the time of the killings and could be confined to a state mental facility. In court, 35-year-old Jasmine Raquel Hickman broke down and said she was "so sorry," according to reporting from the hearing. The ruling caps a long, winding case that began when the children were discovered in South L.A. in October 2017.
As reported by MyNewsLA, Hickman admitted in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom that she killed her daughters and withdrew an earlier not-guilty plea, leaving only a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. Deputy District Attorney MacKenzie Teymouri told the judge that prosecutors allege the girls were suffocated and that Hickman faces two counts each of murder and assault on a child causing death, along with a special-circumstance allegation of multiple murders. Judge George G. Lomeli said the record supported a finding of insanity and warned Hickman she could spend the rest of her life in a state mental facility.
What Happened in 2017
Police were called around 1:44 a.m. on Oct. 19, 2017, and found a newborn, a 7-year-old girl and a woman naked and unresponsive in the parking lot behind the Numero Uno Market at South San Pedro and East 23rd streets, according to contemporaneous coverage. The infant, later identified in court filings as a 38-day-old named Camille, was pronounced dead at the scene, and the older child, Jaliya, died the next day at a hospital, per CBS Los Angeles. Hazmat crews later determined that the white powder covering the victims was a baby-product mix, police said at the time.
Defense, Doctors and Family
Hickman's defense team told the court that two doctors who examined her concluded she was not malingering and that a serious mental illness explained her actions. In a statement read aloud in court, Hickman's mother described the family's devastation and said they forgave her, MyNewsLA reports. Judge Lomeli acknowledged the depth of the family's pain while emphasizing that the ruling turned on Hickman's psychiatric needs and on broader public safety concerns.
What the Ruling Means Legally
A judicial finding that a defendant was legally insane at the time of an offense shifts the focus from punishment to psychiatric care. Under California law, a person found not guilty by reason of insanity can be committed to a state hospital for a term tied to the maximum prison sentence that could have applied, and that term can be extended under Penal Code §1026.5 in certain circumstances. The Department of State Hospitals and the courts periodically review an acquittee's status and may consider conditional release programs when they decide it is appropriate.
Tuesday's hearing marks the latest step in a case that has drawn attention for its violence and for the questions it raises about severe mental illness. Court officials did not announce any immediate next-step dates for placement or transfer, and the case will now move forward under the procedures that govern not-guilty-by-reason-of-insanity commitments and subsequent reviews.
