The mother of a 9-year-old girl found dead in her home on Friday has been arrested for the girl’s murder.

Westminster, California, police said Khadiyjah Pendergraph, 32, was taken into custody 20 miles away at a shopping center in Aliso Viejo, KNBC reported.

A family member called police shortly before noon on Friday for a welfare check. Officers forced their way into the home and found the girl with “obvious signs of trauma,” according to KTLA.

No one else was at the home at the time.

Investigators didn’t say how they located Pendergraph or why she was at a shopping center. She has been charged with murder and booked into the Orange County Jail.

“While police officers are exposed to tragedies on a daily basis, this murder is particularly disturbing, due to the senseless loss of a child allegedly at the hands of her own mother,” said Westminster Chief of Police Darin Lenyi. “The members of the WPD grieve with the victim’s family and extend our deepest condolences.”

Detectives are still investigating and ask anyone with information to contact  Detective Marcela Lopez at 714-548-3773 or submit anonymous tips to Orange County Crime Stoppers at 1-855-TIP-OCCS or online at occrimestoppers.org.

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[Featured image: Pexels]