Mother’s boyfriend charged in fatal stabbing of 2-year-old South Los Angeles girl

A pregnant woman’s boyfriend was charged Thursday with fatally stabbing her 2-year-old daughter during a domestic dispute in South Los Angeles this week, prosecutors said.

Lataz Gray, 22, faces one count of murder in the death of Maliaya Tademy, with a special allegation that he used a knife, and two counts of attempted premeditated murder for allegedly stabbing his live-in girlfriend and unborn child, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office. Prosecutors requested that his bail be set at $4.5 million.

Gray’s father notified investigators about his son, who had gone to the hospital for treatment of cuts to his hands, said Det. David Garrido of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Criminal Gang Homicide Division.

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Detectives said the stabbing occurred shortly before 10 p.m. Monday at the couple’s home in the 3500 block of Arlington Avenue. Gray and his 22-year-old girlfriend had been dating for about six months and moved into the home about a month ago, police said. Gray was not Maliaya’s father, detectives said.

Officers arriving at the home found Gray’s girlfriend and Maliaya inside with multiple stab wounds.

Both were taken to the hospital, where Maliaya was pronounced dead, police said. Gray’s girlfriend remains hospitalized. Her unborn child was not injured in the attack, detectives said.

According to court records, Gray, a known gang member, was convicted of second-degree robbery in 2011 and false imprisonment in 2014.

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