‘Always smiling’: 1-year-old killed by her father after chase was ‘full of happiness,’ mom says

Leylani Ordonez was pronounced dead Wednesday morning after being taken to a hospital, police said. Her father, Alexander Barrios Ordonez, is also dead.

ROSENBERG, Texas — The 1-year-old girl at the center of an AMBER Alert out of Rosenberg has died after being stabbed by her father early Wednesday, according to the Rosenberg Police Department.

Leylani Ordonez was pronounced dead Wednesday morning after being taken to a hospital. Her father, Alexander Barrios Ordonez, 24, is also dead.

Leylani was last seen shortly after 6 p.m. Tuesday. The Rosenberg Police Department said she had been kidnapped by her father.

Police said her father stabbed a man and stole his tow truck before driving Brooks Ave near 1st Street where Leylani was being watched by her babysitter. He then took off with Leylani in an unknown direction.

The Sugar Land Police Department said at about 2 a.m. Wednesday, their officers spotted Ordonez in the truck near University and Highway 6 near an H-E-B store. The driver refused to stop, and the chase ended back in Rosenberg an hour later.

The chase ended on FM 762 near the Southwest Freeway when one of the agencies that assisted in the chase put out spike strips to slow the stolen vehicle down.

Police said the man got out of the tow truck and was holding the baby in his arms. She was already bloodied. The father then stabbed himself.

“We don’t know the exact moment when the baby was injured. But we do know that when he exited the vehicle, the baby was already bloody,” RPD Lt. Suni Jugueta said. “Don’t know if it happened right before he exited the vehicle, but we know it didn’t happen when he exited.”

RPD said the baby was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead.

KHOU 11 News spoke with the daughter of the tow truck driver who was initially stabbed on Tuesday evening. She said the victim is her father and that he is the owner of Riverside Auto Collision Center.

She said the suspect was a former employee of her father’s who had worked with him for less than four months. It was not clear if he had been fired from the job or quit once he left the business.

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