A woman admitted in a Los Angeles courtroom Tuesday that she killed her newborn and 7-year-old daughters, with a judge ruling that she was legally insane at the time of the crime. Jasmine Raquel Hickman, 35, broke down in tears as she expressed remorse, saying, "I know if I had been in my right mind I would have never done what I did." She added, "They really deserved better than that." Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge George G.
Lomeli accepted her plea, finding her guilty but insane, and noted that she could spend the rest of her life in a state mental facility. The tragic incident occurred on October 19, 2017, when Hickman and her daughters were found unresponsive, nude, and covered in baby powder on the pavement outside a Numero Uno Market on San Pedro Street in South Los Angeles.
The newborn was pronounced dead at the scene, and the older daughter died the next day at a hospital. Deputy District Attorney MacKenzie Teymouri told the court that Hickman had admitted to intentionally suffocating her daughters.
Shortly after the case was filed, the District Attorney's Office stated that Hickman claimed God had asked her to sacrifice her children. In a statement read in court, Hickman's mother, Barbara, expressed her family's devastation and forgiveness, writing, "Jasmine, we are here today to let you know that we love you, we miss you, and we forgive you." Deputy Public Defender Robin Ginsburg noted that two doctors who evaluated Hickman agreed she was not faking her mental illness.
The case highlights the intersection of mental health and criminal justice in Los Angeles County.