In a weekend filled with violence, a 5-year-old girl was stabbed to death in Chicago by her mother.
According to CBS Chicago, the stabbing occurred on Saturday morning; however, it remains unclear what led to the fatal incident. Officials received a call about a person stabbed on Fulton Boulevard in East Garfield Park.
Upon arrival, they found 5-year-old Serenity Arrington with multiple stab wounds. Although neighbors tried to help secure the wounds until paramedics arrived, the toddler died shortly after she got to the hospital.
Arrington’s mother, Simon Austin, 27, was charged with first-degree murder for Serenity’s death, as officials said her throat was slit, and it was done in front of her 8-year-old sister.
At a bond hearing, prosecutors said Austin took her 5-year-old daughter outside and put her on the lawn. The 8-year-old told officials that she’d previously seen her mother walking around with a knife after she and her sister spilled eggs on the porch.
And Although the Department of Children and Family Services had been called to the home before, there was no indication that Austin had previously harmed her children.
“We’ve had previous calls there for domestic violence where the mother was the victim of domestic violence and other people in the family called,” Chicago Police Supt. David Brown said Monday.
In the meantime, officials are looking into the motive behind the incident.
“Detectives are looking into that, so they’re touching base with that and with DCFS and everything else,” police News Affairs Officer Jose Jara said of the incident, adding that the officials will look into Austin’s history of mental illness.
“It’s just sad, just out of nowhere,” said neighbor Jose Maljar. “I seen her just yesterday, and today in the morning she’s gone. It’s just sad.”
