Crime & Safety
Mother & Boyfriend Arrested in El Cerrito on Suspicion of Sexual Assault, Homicide of 3-Year-Old
The child was found dead in her Napa apartment on Saturday afternoon, according to police officials.
By Bay City News—
Police arrested a mother and her boyfriend today after being questioned in connection with the sexual assault and homicide of the woman's three-year-old daughter in Napa on Saturday, according to a police lieutenant.
The girl's mother, Sara Krueger, 23, and her boyfriend, Ryan Scott Warner, 26, have both been arrested for assault resulting in a child's death, homicide, and special circumstances murder, according to police.
The homicide investigation began at about 1 p.m. on Saturday when Napa police received an anonymous phone call requesting a welfare check at an apartment in the 2000 block of Wilkins Avenue for a three-year-old girl, police said. The girl was initially reported by police to be 4-years-old, but authorities confirmed on today that she was actually 3-years-old.
Officers entered the apartment and found the young girl deceased in her bed, police said. Detectives found evidence of foul play, observed signs of blunt force trauma injuries on the child's body, and found preliminary evidence of a sexual assault, according to Napa police Lt. Debbie Peecook.
The girl's mother and her mother's boyfriend were not home when police arrived and had been last seen carrying luggage from Krueger's apartment at about 10 a.m. on Saturday, according to police. Neither Krueger nor Warner owns a vehicle and police were not been able to reach them on their cellphones, Peecook said.
Regional law enforcement was advised to be on the lookout for the couple, police said.
A citizen saw the couple at a restaurant in El Cerrito, about 30 miles south of Napa, and reported the there whereabouts to police. BART police detained Krueger and Warner at the El Cerrito del Norte BART station, at about 11 a.m. today, according to Peecook.
Napa police officers picked up the couple and interviewed them about the circumstances surrounding the death of Krueger's daughter. Both Warner and Krueger are being booked into the Napa County Department of Corrections, according to Peecook.
Detective Andy Hess is in charge of the investigation and anyone with information regarding this case is urged to contact him at ahess@cityofnapa.org.
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