California mom arrested for trying to drown son in canal, authorities say

EL CAJON, Calif. - A Northern California woman was arrested after she allegedly tried to kill her 4-year-old son, smothering him on a muddy embankment of an irrigation canal and then submerging herself and the boy into 5 feet of water when an officer arrived, authorities said Wednesday.

Taylor Delaine Green, 31, of Dobbins, was arrested Monday near Marysville after she fought with a California Highway Patrol officer, who had wrestled the boy from her arms, and tried to reach for his gun, CHPatrol Officer Brian Danielson said.

She is facing two counts of attempted murder, child endangerment, resisting arrest, trying to take an officer’s gun, and driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, Danielson said.

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It wasn’t immediately clear whether she had an attorney to speak on her behalf.

Danielson said the officer was responding to a report of a minivan parked in the middle of a rural road and was checking out the vehicle when he heard screaming and saw Green about 100 yards away in some weeds near the irrigation canal.

When the officer got close, he saw that Green, who appeared to be under the influence of drugs, had the boy face down and was smothering him on the muddy canal’s embankment. After the officer reached for the child, Green jumped into about 5 feet of water with her son.

The officer jumped into the canal and was able to free the child from under the water and away from Green. He was crawling back up the embankment when Green began fighting with him and trying to pull him and the boy underwater while the officer held the boy in one hand, Danielson said.

The officer managed to hand off the boy to an arriving Yuba County sheriff’s sergeant and Green was finally taken into custody by officers with the California Highway Patrol and the Marysville Police Department and deputies with the Yuba County Sheriff’s Office, he said.

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