NY mom arrested for decapitating 7-year-old son with knife
A woman in upstate New York decapitated her 7-year-old son with a large kitchen knife just 10 days after she was released from a hospital's mental health unit, according to police.
Hanane Mouhib was arrested and charged with second-degree murder after police responded to frantic 911 calls on Thursday and found her son Abraham Cardenas dead in their Sweden, N.Y., home.
Mouhib stabbed the boy in the upper back and cut his neck, severing his head, according to court papers.
"There's absolutely no explanation for this," Sheriff Todd Baxter said at a news conference Friday. "The word 'evil' comes to mind."
Mouhib, a licensed nurse practitioner who worked at a Rochester psychiatric center, recognized her mental health issues on March 5 and called the sheriff's office for assistance, the Democrat and Chronicle reported.
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She called 911 again on March 8, and was taken to the Rochester General Hospital, where she remained until March 26, Baxter said.
Ten days after Mouhib's release, the sheriff's office received three 911 calls from the home in quick succession around 8:20 p.m.
One of the calls reported a suicidal woman with a knife, and responding deputies had to use pepper spray and a stun gun to subdue Mouhib, who refused to drop the weapon, Baxter said.
Mouhib's husband, mother-in-law and a 10-year-old boy were all at home at the time of the grisly beheading, according to Baxter.
None of the other relatives were injured, and they said they hadn't seen any warning signs.
Abraham Cardenas was a first-grader in the Brockport district, where Superintendent Lesli Myers said, "This is a very shocking situation for us."
She remembered Abraham as an "engaged learner" who "lit up a room any time he entered it" and said grief counselors would be at the Barclay Elementary School when students return from spring break Monday.
"I will never find the words to adequately describe, or reconcile with what happened inside Abraham Cardenas' home last evening," Baxter said. "A young boy with a life full of promise ahead of him is no longer with us to hope, prosper, and fulfill his dreams."
Mouhib is being held in the county jail without bail. A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for April 11.
With News Wire Services
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