LOS ANGELES — The first sign of a tragedy that led investigators on a bizarre trail of violence across Los Angeles County began with an infant and her sister abandoned and injured on the 405 Freeway before sunrise.

Around 4:30 a.m. Monday near the Sepulveda Boulevard/Howard Hughes Parkway exit, officers found an 8-month old girl in the middle of the roadway. She had major injuries and died at the scene. A 9-year-old girl, who had moderate injuries, had made it to the side of the freeway after the pair were pushed out of a moving car, authorities said.

Roughly half an hour later, police in Redondo Beach responded to reports that a black Porsche Cayenne crashed into a tree while driving in excess of 100 mph on Pacific Coast Highway near Vincent Street. The driver, identified by police as Danielle Cherakiyah Johnson, 34, was pronounced dead at the scene.

At first, it wasn’t clear that the two incidents were related.

But about two hours later, police arrived at Johnson’s home, an upscale fourth-floor unit in the Montecito Apartments complex in Woodland Hills, where the full scope of the tragedy came into focus.

A trail of blood led from the complex’s elevator to the apartment. Inside, police found 29-year-old Jaelen Allen Chaney stabbed to death.

Investigators believe Johnson killed her partner inside their home before fleeing, pushed her two small daughters out of the car on the 405 and then deliberately rammed her SUV into the tree in Redondo Beach in an apparent suicide.

A law enforcement source with knowledge of the investigation told the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday that the 9-year-old girl who was found on the freeway witnessed the deadly events and told investigators what had happened. After the stabbing, Johnson got into the car with the children and rammed through the security gate to leave the complex, according to the source, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the matter and requested anonymity.

“You have this poor 9-year-old little girl who has to live with this for the rest of her life,” said Lt. Guy Golan, homicide supervisor for the LAPD Valley Bureau.

Golan said the investigation has been trying even for seasoned detectives. The couple had no documented history of domestic violence or calls to the LAPD. There were no prior indicators of domestic strife, Golan said.

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