In re Elijah L. CA2/1

BACKGROUND

Mother, father, and Elijah came to the attention of the Los Angeles Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) after the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) responded to a domestic violence report at the motel room where the family was living on August 22, 2020. As of August 2020, mother and father had been together for about three years. Elijah was born in April 2019.

1 Further statutory references are to the Welfare and Institutions Code.

2 On the evening of August 22, 2020, father arrived at the motel room where the couple was living and the couple began arguing. Mother told police that father had returned to the room “late after drinking.” According to the LASD incident report, father “became angry and pulled [mother] by the hair from the bed where she was sitting, and onto the floor. When she fell onto the floor, [father] then placed his right knee onto her neck area, which caused difficulty in [mother’s] breathing. [Father] removed his knee from [mother’s] neck and began strangling her with both of his hands while she was still laying on the floor. [Mother] told [the officer] she felt like[ ] she ‘was about to pass out[.]’ ” After father…