The father of a year-old girl who was pronounced dead after being found unresponsive in a vehicle in the unincorporated View Park community near South Los Angeles pleaded not guilty Monday to a felony count of child abuse resulting in death.
The charge against Edwin Wallace Johnson, 40, of View Park, stems from the death last Tuesday of the girl, who was identified by the county Medical Examiner’s office as Maeve Blakeley-Johnson.
The determination of the cause of the girl’s death has been deferred, according to records from the Medical Examiner’s office.
Deputies responded about 3:10 p.m. last Tuesday to the 300 block of Chanson Drive, north of Slauson Avenue and east of Crenshaw Boulevard, after receiving a report of a child not breathing, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
“The call involved a child who was found unresponsive in a vehicle. Los Angeles County Fire Department personnel also responded and pronounced the child deceased at the scene,” according to a statement released by the sheriff’s department.
Johnson was initially arrested late last Tuesday, then released on bond Wednesday before being re-arrested that day, according to jail records, which indicated that he was subsequently released again on bond Saturday morning.
He is due back in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom Nov. 6. A date is scheduled to be set then for a hearing to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to allow the case against him to proceed to trial.
Defense attorney Jacob Glucksman said outside court, “My client’s very grateful for the support from his family and friends. At the time, he’s grieving and asking for his privacy.”