Iconic LA actress reveals childhood connection to accused boy-toy trans killer

A prominent actress has been left stunned after being told the little girl she watched grow up is now in jail accused of killing her much older female lover.

Mackenzie Phillips, who’s breakout role was in the George Lucas 1973 movie ”American Graffiti” before starring in long-running sitcom ”One Day at a Time,” lived next door to Emily Emerald Vogdt, now 27, and even babysat the child.

Vodgt is accused of gunning down Carla Maribel Rodriguez, 48, and her beloved dog Prince at the couple’s rented $2.4 million Beverly Grove home on March 22.

Vogdt, now a trans man who goes by their middle name “Emerald,” is being held on $3,075,000 bail at the all-female jailhouse in the Century Regional Detention Center in Lynwood.

A shocked Phillips, the daughter of The Mamas & the Papas founder John Phillips, said Sunday after arriving home from a trip to New York: “I cannot believe she allegedly killed somebody. That’s not the Emily I know.”

Phillips, 66, said she was ”aware” Vogdt was transitioning to a man. “I support her with love, but there’s nothing I can do for her.”

Phillips made her screen debut in the film “American Graffiti” and went on to superstardom as Julie Cooper, the teenage daughter on the sitcom “One Day at a Time.”

She also appeared in a range of television roles, including as Barb Denning on Netflix’s “Orange Is the New Black.”

She is the daughter of Phillips, the late singer and songwriter who co-founded The Mamas & the Papas and grew up in Los Angeles during the height of the 1960s music scene.

During a 2009 appearance on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” to promote the release of her memoir, ”High on Arrival”, she claimed her famous dad sexually abused her for years.

She has also spoken openly about her struggles with cocaine, heroin and prescription opioids, and alcohol, which affected her career for many years before she achieved sobriety.

Phillips is still acting and has also worked as a substance abuse counselor.

Meanwhile, Rodriguez’s brother Joshua Vasquez, 39, told The Post investigators described Vogdt as “very possessive and obsessed” with his sister — and believes Rodriguez may have been planning to leave the relationship.

Police have alleged the killing stemmed from a domestic dispute.

The couple, who had been dating for almost a year, had an extravagant lifestyle, and spent Christmas and New Year’s in Aspen and Solvang, followed by a sojourn to Mammoth in February, and a decadent three days at the five-star Ritz-Carlton, with spectacular views over the cliffs of Dana Point in Orange County.

They also cruised around in a $240,00 Lamborghini Urus.

Their luxe life appears to have been fueled by Vogdt, who was in line to inherit a family trust valued at about $2.9 million, tied to a commercial property on Ventura Boulevard in Sherman Oaks.

The trust was established by Vogdt’s grandmother Paula Vogdt, and passed to her daughter Anita Vogdt in 2013. Anita died in 2022, leaving Vogdt as the sole heir.

Despite this, Rodriguez had told her mother she was paying $1,000 per month to live in the Airbnb the couple shared, with the couple apparently living in separate rooms.

Most of Rodriguez’s friends and family has assumed she was dating a man because of Vogdt’s beard, tattoos and love of trucker’s caps, including a Saint Lauren one worth $550.

Rodriguez’s aunt Marcella Garcia, 59, said the family had never met Vogdt, and knew almost nothing about the relationship.

Garcia said she had assumed her niece was dating a man, although noted Vogdt appeared ”a little strange and weird looking.”

Rodriguez had told her she was “trying something different” but gave no further details. “I told her I was pleased for her as long as she was happy,” Garcia said.

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