14 March 2023
TOPEKA (KSNT) – The Topeka Police Department arrested a teen and a woman Monday in connection to a suspected killing of an infant in December 2022.
Donna Eubanks with the City of Topeka said the TPD arrested a 15-year-old boy, who was not named, and transported him to the Shawnee County Juvenile Detention Center for the following charges:
Murder in the 1st degree
Murder in the 2nd degree
Aggravated endangering a child
Abuse of a child
TPD also arrested Lucia Meraz-Arreola, 45, of Topeka, for aggravated endangering of a child. She was also taken to the Shawnee County Department of Corrections.
On Dec. 24, 2022, TPD responded to a report of an infant not breathing in the 2000 block of SE Echo Ridge. The infant, a girl, was transported to a local hospital where she was later pronounced dead.