Dad stabs passerby who tries to help in crash — then tosses baby off cliff, CA cops say

A disturbing chain of events culminated in a father throwing his infant daughter off a cliff Wednesday, California police say.

Around 8:30 a.m., police responded to a report of a stabbing in an Indian Wells parking lot where deputies found a woman with a number of injuries from a “domestic violence incident,” Riverside County Sheriff’s Department said in a news release.

Police later said the woman was six months pregnant and married to her attacker with whom she had a 1-year-old child, KMIR reported.

Deputies said the suspect left the parking lot with the infant, the Palm Springs Desert Sun reported.

Police identified the suspect as Adam Slater, 49, and released his description as well as one of the car he was driving, according to the release.

Not long after, California Highway Patrol received a report of a crash on Highway 74 involving a car similar to the one involved in the Indian Wells incident, the release said.

The car had rolled “several hundred feet” from the road, according to police. Witnesses tried to help, but the driver ran to the passenger side of the car and stabbed a bystander who was trying to remove a young girl from the car, the release said.

Witnesses told police the driver took the girl from the man’s arms and threw her off a cliff into a ravine before running off into the canyon, according to the release. Police caught him following a short chase.

After a search of the crash site, officials found the 1-year-old girl dead in the ravine, the Desert Sun reported. Police said the girl is Slater’s daughter.

Slater was taken to the hospital for injuries sustained during the crash, according to the release. The witness who was stabbed also received medical attention.

Slater was arrested Thursday evening and charged with first-degree murder among other charges including attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon and “special circumstance allegation of committing a murder during the commission of a kidnapping,” which allows the district attorney’s office to pursue the death penalty, KMIR reported.

On Tuesday, he pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder along with other charges, according to KESQ.

This story was originally published May 7, 2020 at 2:07 PM with the headline "Dad stabs passerby who tries to help in crash — then tosses baby off cliff, CA cops say."