A Champlin woman was charged with killing her daughter the day a judge granted temporary custody to the girl’s father, a Lakeville man, according to court documents.
Maige Elizabeth Yang, 23, was charged Tuesday with the second-degree murder of De’Ali Blia Delgado, 18 months.
De’Ali Blia Delgado. (Courtesy of GoFundMe)
After Hennepin County District Judge Theresa Couri granted the child’s father temporary custody on Jan. 9, authorities allege that Yang went home and killed her daughter and then tried to kill herself, according to the criminal complaint.
The following details were found in court documents about last week’s custody hearing:
During the hearing, Couri said it would be a difficult decision since the girl had spent most of her life with her mother but, due to the mother’s “erratic” behavior, the father, Erick Delgado of Lakeville, would get temporary custody of the child.
Delgado said during the hearing that Yang was demonstrating erratic behavior and he believed that she had untreated mental health issues. It also was revealed that Yang’s mother had found a note in the trash in which Yang had threatened to end her life and her child’s life.
Based on an affidavit about the threat, Champlin police issued an endangered missing person alert for the mother and child on Jan. 3, saying they were last seen on Dec. 28. The alert said that after Yang disappeared, “Family later located communications that lead law enforcement to be extremely concerned for Yang and her daughter’s safety.”
The alert was canceled later that day with authorities saying the pair had been located.
Yang argued in court that she left the state to get away from the stress of the custody case and that she handled her mental health issues by taking medication and seeing a therapist. She said her daughter would not be safe in her father’s care because of his “inability to handle his anger and history of domestic abuse.”
Delgado could not be reached for comment, but in the custody hearing documents, the judge said that based on the facts Yang provided, it was not established that domestic violence had occurred.
In her ruling, Couri said it was a difficult decision to grant temporary custody to the father since the girl had bonded with her mother and been in the mother’s exclusive care most of her life. However, the mother’s recent behavior had been “deeply concerning.”
Couri ruled that the mother’s threats were a “profound threat” to the child’s well-being, warranted “immediate intervention” and were a “severe safety concern.”
It is unclear from court documents when Delgado was going to take custody of the girl, but Yang took her home to Champlin after the hearing.
Later that day, police were called to Yang’s home in the 11900 block of Castle Rock Court on reports of a child in distress. When they arrived, they found the toddler on the living room floor. She was not breathing. Despite lifesaving efforts, she was declared dead at the hospital.
Police found Yang partially unconscious in an upstairs bedroom. Authorities said that she had attempted suicide. She is currently hospitalized under police supervision.
Her parents told police that when Yang returned home from the custody hearing, she took her daughter to an upstairs bedroom. When Yang’s father went to check on them, the door was locked. He forced the door open and found the girl on the floor with her lips turning blue. He grabbed her, ran downstairs and called 911.
Yang later allegedly told investigators she poured a “significant” amount of children’s sleeping medication into the child’s bottle in order to “make the pain go away.” She also allegedly confessed that she intended for it to be a lethal dose so her daughter would “pass peacefully” in her sleep.
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A GoFundMe for funeral expenses (gofund.me/0059faf1c) was started by Delgado. As of Wednesday afternoon, it had raised nearly $10,000.
“It’s with my heart shattered that I write this post,” Delgado wrote on the GoFundMe page. “My baby girl De’Ali Blia Delgado was not just taken away from me, She was murdered. I did everything right. Today I was (supposed) to wake up right next to my daughter. I had finally won custody of my beautiful baby on Friday, January 9th at 11:30Am and by 4Pm her life was gone. I fought my hardest for you, and the justice system failed you. I ask for your help at this very unexpected time to help me and my family bury my beautiful princess.”
The criminal complaint says Yang will be booked into the Hennepin County jail after she is discharged from the hospital.
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