TheBakersfieldCalifornian.com

A Bakersfield woman arrested Sunday on charges of stabbing her 6-week-old daughter also gave birth to a stillborn child in 2009, a death the county coroner attributed to the mother's methamphetamine abuse.

Sunday night, two years after that tragic stillbirth, Danielle Mailloux, 23, was arrested and booked on suspicion of attempted murder of her 6-week-old daughter after deputies were called to the 1300 block of Crawford Street in the northeast and found her baby had been stabbed numerous times, the Kern County Sheriff's Department said Monday.

The baby, Aubrey Ragina Mailloux, was taken to Kern Medical Center and later was transferred to Children's Hospital Central California in Madera. She was listed in fair condition Monday, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Mailloux (pronounced May-Low) did not respond to a request for a jailhouse interview Monday. But Mailloux's mother, Lynna Shroyer, said Danielle had "cleaned up" and was no longer using meth.

"It's unbelievable," Shroyer said of the stabbing incident.

"Danielle is such a wonderful mother," she said. "She's one of those picture-perfect mothers you don't see much anymore."

Shroyer acknowledged that her daughter has struggled with meth use.

"But that wasn't part of this," Shroyer said.

The stillborn death of that earlier baby, who was named Addyson Angel Mailloux, has been weighing heavily on her, she said.

Shroyer said she's been staying at her daughter's house a lot lately and truly believes her daughter was no longer using the dangerous stimulant.

"They've been struggling to make it" financially, Shroyer said of Danielle and husband, John Mailloux, 24.

"I knew she was depressed, but I had no idea it was this bad," she said. "I was just there two days ago."

Californian archives show Mailloux's stillborn child, Addyson Mailloux, was delivered March 27, 2009. The coroner's office at the time attributed the death to methamphetamine abuse by Danielle. No charges were filed.

Kern County Chief Deputy District Attorney Scott Spielman said Monday that since the child never lived outside the womb, authorities couldn't bring charges against the mother.

He said someone can be charged with murder in the death of a fetus after it's in the post-embryonic phase, seven to eight weeks after fertilization. But there's an exception, Spielman pointed out.

Murder charges can't be applied if "the act was solicited, aided, abetted, or consented to by the mother of the fetus," according to California penal code. Otherwise abortion could be charged as murder.

It was quiet at the Crawford Street home Monday. A child's swing set in the back yard stood silent and unused, while the unsold remnants of a yard sale were still on display near the steel security door in the front yard.

No one answered a knock at the door Monday morning, and there was no sign that deputies and sheriff's investigators had descended in force upon the neighborhood just hours before.

Robert Herrera, a neighbor who lives a few doors west, said he doesn't know the people who live at the Mailloux house.

"They always have people over there," he said. "They're outside a lot, even late at night."

"This is really sad," said Herrera's wife, Janie.

Authorities aren't saying whether there may be other charges pending in connection with the arrest.

"Not at this time," said sheriff's spokesman Ray Pruitt. "But the investigation is continuing."

Aubrey's grandmother said the baby is not in danger of dying from her wounds, but she was apparently cut "head to toe."

Mailloux was being held at Kern County Jail on $500,000 bail. She is scheduled to be arraigned 3 p.m. Tuesday.