A father stabbed his pregnant wife in an unprovoked attack, then hurled their baby daughter off a steep cliff to her death, police say. Adam Slater, 49, is said to have knifed his 23 year-old wife Ashley Grome after arriving at a parking lot in Palm Desert, California, to pick her up. Slater is then said to have taken one year-old daughter Maddie on a drive that ended with the infant being murdered.
Half an hour after the stabbing, Slater’s car went off Highway 74 close to Palm Desert in California, with a bystander who saw the overturned vehicle rushing to help. One rescuer who pulled Maddie from the car is said to have been stabbed by Slater, who then snatched his daughter from the man’s arms and threw her to her death in the ravine. Another unconfirmed report suggests that Slater deliberately rolled the car to eject Maddie from it.
Riverside County Sheriff’s Office said: ‘The driver then ran to the passenger side of the vehicle, where he stabbed a male who had assisted getting a young girl from the vehicle. The suspect then took the girl from the arms of the male he stabbed. Multiple witnesses saw the suspect take the child and throw her over a steep cliff into a ravine. The suspect then fled on foot into the canyon.’
Slater was arrested after being chased on foot and detained, with Maddie’s corpse found in the ravine shortly afterwards. The alleged killer dad is being treated in hospital for injuries he sustained in the crash, and will be charged with murder when he is released from hospital.
Maddie’s great uncle Chris Grome told News Channel 3 the youngster was ‘a little joy’ and added: ‘Right now, it’s painful… Painful. Everybody’s hurting pretty bad.’ Investigators have yet to disclose a possible motive for Slater’s alleged crimes.
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