In re Z.E. CA2/2

BACKGROUND

1. Events Leading To Earlier Appeal Daughter was born in April 2014. Approximately 1:00 a.m. on December 14, 2017, mother died after she jumped, fell, or was pushed from the top of a six-story parking garage. Father and

1 Statutoryreferences are to the Welfare and Institutions Code unless otherwise indicated.

2 daughter were present at the time. Father was arrested on suspicion of murder. By the time of the jurisdiction/disposition hearing, father was no longer in custody, but he remained a person of interest in mother’s death. In August 2018, the juvenile court sustained four counts of an amended dependency petition filed by the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (Department). Those counts alleged father had engaged in domestic violence with mother and former wives (§ 300, subd. (b)(2)); father suffered from bipolar disorder and anxiety, which he had failed to address adequately (§ 300, subd. (b)); father had emotionally abused daughter (§ 300, subd. (c)); and father had sexually abused daughter (§ 300, subd. (d)). The court declared daughter, then four-years-old, a dependent of the court. Following adjudication, daughter, who had been…