April 22--A "foul odor" in a Perris apartment on Thursday led to the discovery of a dead baby and the arrest of a woman on suspicion of child endangerment, authorities said.
A resident of an apartment complex in the 900 block of D Street flagged down a Perris Police Department officer outside the building at 8:12 a.m., saying there was a "foul odor" coming from a neighboring apartment, the Riverside County Sheriff's Department said in a statement.
The officer gained access to the apartment to do a welfare check and found an adult woman in her 20s, a 2-year-old child and the dead infant, authorities said.
The woman, Susan Chavez, 28, was arrested on suspicion of child endangerment and taken to the Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside. The 2-year-old child received medical attention and was placed in protective custody, the Sheriff's Department said.
An autopsy is pending for the infant, whose gender was not released.
The case is being investigated by the Riverside County Sheriff's Central Homicide Unit.
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Authorities have asked anyone with information to call the homicide unit at (951) 955-2777 or to submit a tip on the sheriff's website.
hailey.branson@latimes.com
Twitter: @haileybranson
