Investigators are examining two separate Bay Area homicides involving three women who knew one another, but authorities have not publicly established a connection.
MILPITAS, CA — Two close friends were killed in separate incidents in Milpitas and neighboring San Jose on Aug. 28, and a third woman who knew both victims has been charged with murder after police said she intentionally struck one friend with an SUV.
The unusual sequence of deaths has drawn scrutiny because the three women were friends and the two killings occurred on the same day. Anila Baby, 32, of Milpitas, has been charged with murder in the death of 35-year-old Anjana Hari at the Mill Creek Apartments on Dixon Landing Road. San Jose police are separately investigating the death of another woman, identified by relatives and news organizations as 40-year-old Ann Mary Mathew. Authorities have not publicly announced that Baby has been charged in Mathew’s death.
Milpitas police were called shortly after noon Aug. 28 to the Mill Creek Apartments after reports that a pedestrian had been struck by a blue SUV. Officers found Hari critically injured in the parking lot, and she was pronounced dead at the scene. Investigators also found evidence that three other vehicles had been damaged as the SUV left the complex, according to court records and police accounts reported by Bay Area news organizations.
A witness told investigators that Hari appeared friendly and was smiling as she approached the SUV before she was struck, according to court documents cited by CBS Bay Area and other local outlets. Investigators allege Baby accelerated from a stopped position and hit Hari. Police later found the blue Toyota SUV about a mile away near a Walgreens. The vehicle had heavy front-end damage, authorities said. Officers reported that Baby appeared incoherent and was unable to answer their questions when they approached her.
Statements gathered from friends and relatives established that Baby and Hari knew each other, lived in the same apartment complex and were close friends, according to the court documents. The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office subsequently charged Baby with one count of murder. The charge is an allegation, and Baby is presumed innocent unless proved guilty in court. Jail records cited by local news organizations showed her being held without bail, with her next court appearance scheduled for Sept. 10.
About two hours after the Milpitas call, San Jose police responded to another death roughly 10 miles away. Officers went to the 700 block of Linda Vista Street at about 1:53 p.m. after receiving a report of suspicious circumstances, according to the San Jose Police Department. Inside a residence, officers found an unconscious and unresponsive woman. Medical personnel pronounced her dead at the scene.
The San Jose Police Department said investigators from its homicide unit, the Santa Clara County Crime Lab and the county medical examiner’s office examined the scene. Police determined that the woman had suffered at least one stab wound and classified the death as a homicide, the city’s 17th homicide investigation of 2026. Police said preliminary information showed that the victim and a female suspect knew each other and that investigators quickly identified an adult woman as the suspect. The department did not publicly identify that suspect in its Aug. 29 announcement.
Relatives and multiple news reports have identified the San Jose victim as Mathew, a friend of Hari and Baby. Reports from India said the three women were originally from Kerala and had maintained a close friendship in California. Some relatives have alleged that the two deaths are connected, but San Jose police have not publicly confirmed that allegation, and Baby has not been publicly charged in Mathew’s killing. Reporting from CBS Bay Area also said police remained tight-lipped about whether investigators had established a link between the two cases.
The timing and relationships among the women have left major questions unanswered, including what led to Hari’s death and whether the San Jose homicide is connected to the Milpitas case. No motive for Hari’s killing has been publicly established. San Jose police have similarly said the motive and circumstances surrounding their homicide investigation remain under investigation.
As of Sunday, authorities had publicly filed a murder charge against Baby only in connection with Hari’s death. The San Jose homicide investigation remained open, and police had not publicly announced charges in Mathew’s death or formally identified the female suspect described in their initial statement.
Author note: Last updated September 6, 2026.