Police charge suspect accused of running down her friend before allegedly committing a second murder that same night

A Milpitas woman accused of running over her friend is now facing another murder charge after police linked her to a separate deadly stabbing. Investigators say the two incidents happened within hours of each other. This turned what initially appeared to be a fatal hit-and-run into a much larger homicide investigation.

Per CBS, 32-year-old Anila Baby has been charged with two counts of murder. The charges stem from the death of Anjana Hari in Milpitas and a separate killing in San Jose.

Police said the first incident happened at the Mill Creek Apartments in Milpitas, where Hari was struck by a blue SUV. She was pronounced dead at the scene, while the vehicle was later located outside a Walgreens roughly a mile away.

Police say the second death changed the investigation

Officers reportedly found Baby near the SUV and said she appeared incoherent. Police also reported finding blood on her arms and legs before she was taken into custody and booked into the Santa Clara County Jail.

The investigation did not end with the fatal collision, however. Detectives were also examining a separate death in San Jose after officers responded to a home and found an unresponsive woman suffering from injuries.

In the report, the woman was pronounced dead at the scene, and investigators later determined that she had been stabbed. Police said the victim and Baby knew each other, though authorities have not disclosed a motive for the killing.

Investigators from the San Jose Police Department’s homicide unit worked with the Santa Clara County crime lab and medical examiner’s office. The departments pieced together the circumstances surrounding the death. The investigation ultimately led authorities to connect Baby to the second homicide.

Baby now faces murder charges in both cases as investigators continue working to establish what happened. The case remains under investigation.