California Couple Arrested At Border For Smuggling Baby Girl’s Body In Bag

Johnny Hartley and Mercy Becerra were arrested after smuggling the body of a murder baby over the Mexican border.

California Couple Arrested At Border For Smuggling Baby Girl’s Body In Bag

Mexican authorities arrested an American couple from California just after they crossed the border into Mexico. The couple were carrying the body of a toddler in one of their bags.

The suspects, 39-year-old Johnny Hartley and 43-year-old Mercy Becerra, crossed the border from San Diego to Tijuana when Mexican customs agents detained them. The couple crossed the border on foot, with Hartley carrying a duffel bag. Hartley was sent with his bag to a secondary inspection point, at which point Becerra tried to run away; she was captured shortly thereafter.

An x-ray machine scanned Hartley’s bag, which showed the body of a deceased child. Police advised that it appeared to be the body of a baby girl who was about two years old.

It’s believed that the child was murdered in Whittier, California, where the couple is from. Mexican law enforcement transferred custody of the couple to San Diego Police Department.

Neither Johnny Hartley or Mercy Becerra are reportedly parents of the baby, but it’s believed that they knew they parents. It’s now clear how or why they killed the girl or why they were trying to smuggle her body into Mexico.

Hartley and Becerra were each booked on charges of murder and child cruelty.

San Diego Police Department detectives will be working with Whittier Police Department to thoroughly investigate this case.

We hope that the parents of the child were not involved in this horrific act. More details will surely be released soon as the investigation continues. Carrying around a murdered baby is unlikely to draw any sympathy from a jury, and it’s likely that Johnny Hartley and Mercy Becerra will be successfully prosecuted.