CA - Ruby Young, 17 mos, found murdered, Red Bluff, 22 Nov 2005

A search warrant affidavit written by Eugene police Detective Tracey Belshee and filed in Lane County Circuit Court states that Dawn Serrena Young told two Red Bluff, Calif., detectives that spirits were talking to her and abusing her 17-month-old daughter, Ruby.

Young was arrested Nov. 23 after she crashed her pickup into parked cars at a Red Bluff lumber store. Police found her covered in blood from self-inflicted chest wounds...

Young had practiced both Voodoo and Santeria, the affidavit said. She told detectives that she had paid religious practitioners in California and Florida to “cleanse” Ruby.

Young, 34, pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity during her Dec. 6 arraignment in Tehama County Superior Court. Friends have said that Young suffered from bipolar disorder.

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Rosemary Childs, a friend of Young, said the woman was trying to get away from her spiritual past. Since moving to Eugene a year ago, she had explored both Buddhism and Christianity.

But Young worried about her daughter's spiritual well-being, Childs told The Register-Guard newspaper of Eugene.

"She had mentioned that she had some deities that she was taking care of and she hadn't been taking care of them, so she was really afraid for Ruby," Childs said.

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By all accounts, Dawn Serrena Young was a loving mother to her 17-month-old daughter, Ruby. Friends and neighbors say she doted on the girl, a smiling, happy baby who had recently learned to walk....

Young was arraigned Wednesday in Tehema County Superior Court on a charge of murdering her baby. She was being held without bail in the Tehema County Jail...

On Nov. 22 - the night before Red Bluff police arrested Young on a charge of murder - she had visited another Buddhist's home in Eugene to practice Buddhist chants...

Young sometimes complained that one of her neighbors made too much noise or was dealing drugs, though others in the building doubted her accusations. Once, she called police on the man, claiming he was having a party when in fact he was home alone, Moses said.

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Friends of Young offered new insights into the woman's mental state at the time of the slaying. Young apparently had practiced Santeria, a religion in which African deities are worshipped as Catholic saints.

"She was really into the supernatural," friend Rosemary Childs said. "She was very, very superstitious."

When Young learned she was pregnant with Ruby, she tried to distance herself from the practice, Childs said. But she still felt tied to the religion...

Investigators are looking into whether Young's past involvement with Santeria had anything to do with the crime.

"She was involved in that, but she was involved in several different religions, and we can't say if that had anything to do with Ruby's death," Red Bluff police Lt. Scott Capilla said.

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A Eugene woman accused of killing her 17-month-old daughter in Red Bluff, Calif., has been found incompetent to stand trial, officials said.

Dawn Serrena Young, 34, will be sent to a California state mental hospital for treatment that ultimately could result in her returning to a courtroom to be tried on murder charges, Tehama County Assistant District Attorney Jonathan Skillman said...

A search warrant affidavit filed in Lane County Circuit Court states that Young told two Red Bluff detectives that spirits had been talking to her and sexually abusing her daughter...

Skillman said a Tehama County judge on Tuesday ruled Young unfit to stand trial after reviewing a psychiatrist's report that concluded that she was incompetent. Two doctors who evaluated Young earlier this year had split opinions of her competency.

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Defendant Dawn Serrena Young appeals from the denial of an application for restoration of sanity under Penal Code section 1026.2.1 On appeal, defendant alleges a federal constitutional violation because she should have been allowed "at least [to] present her case that she was either no longer dangerous or no longer if ever mentally ill, and satisfy the court that she did not need a year of supervision in the outpatient program to meet her burden of proof."...

In 2008, defendant was found not guilty by reason of insanity of second degree murder of her 18-month-old child. She was committed to Napa State Hospital for a maximum term of life...

The order denying defendant's application for restoration to sanity is affirmed.

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