Shocked reaction from residents near home of Lorna Valle, mother accused of drowning her child

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Valle, 32, was booked with murder at the 77th Street Division Jail. The LA Times reports her 5-year-old daughter is in serious condition at Children's Hospital. A court date has not yet been set.

The day after Valle was arrested on charges of drowning her 1-year-old daughter and attempting to drown her 5-year-old daughter, neighbors on the 900 block of West 50th Street are restless.

Judy McCann has been a foster parent, and is taking this hard because there were children involved. She was at home when the police arrived Wednesday morning.

"Last night I didn't sleep very well, just thinking about this tragedy," she said. "The oldest one was prayerful, her eyes sitting in the back of her head...I was just praying that they could save both of them. But the dad was just beating his head on the side of the fence, screaming, 'Why'd you kill my kids? Why didn't you kill yourself?'"

McCann's son, Thomas Burton, knew the oldest daughter. He's also in disbelief that something like this could happen to a little girl that always waved at him as she passed by.

"All the neighbors were watching her and never complained about her. She would go to the store and buy her popcorn and her hot Cheetos, and when she'd come back she'd have her little boots on. I saw her every day."

Whatever drove Valle over the edge, Burton says, probably wasn't her kids themselves.

"She took care of her kids. Every time I saw her, she always had her kids. They weren't neglected. So it was something else that triggered it, and I don't know what that is. I wished she would've talked to God about it and let her kids go."

For now, teddy bears, flowers, and hand-written signs adorn the front of the toddler's home--a painful reminder of a life gone too soon.