ST. GEORGE, Utah, Aug. 26, 2021 (Gephardt Daily) — A 28-year-old woman has been charged with multiple felonies after police say she admitted stabbing her son in the throat with scissors and trying to suffocate him Thursday morning at a St. George motel.
A statement from the St. George Police department describes the boy as being approximately 10 years old. The mother’s probable cause statement says the boy is 8 years old.
The boy’s mother, who Gephardt Daily will not name in order to protect the privacy of the child, faces charges of:
- Attempted murder, a first-degree felony
- Child abuse — infliction of serious physical injury intentionally, a second-degree felony
- Violation of a protective order, a class A misdemeanor
According to a probable cause statement by an officer of the St. George Police Department, he responded to the Motel 6 after a 911 call from an employee, who said she first saw the mother and son that day at 9 a.m.
“She witnessed a young male subject, later identified as the 8 year-old-victim, running through the alley between the two buildings, screaming for ‘help’ and that his mother was trying to ‘suffocate’ him,” the statement says.
The boy’s mother was following a short distance behind the child, the statement says. The woman “told the employee, ‘don’t worry, he just got his butt whooped,'” the statement says. The woman then returned to her room with her son, the employee told the officer.
The employee was contacted by a motel housekeeper approximately two hours later.
“According to his witness statement, the housekeeper saw (the boy) outside of room 128 saying his mom wanted to kill’ him. The housekeeper told (the boy) to go back into the room while she contacted the police.”
The housekeeper went to the room and found the door and window closed, so she went to the front desk and called 911 before returning to room 128, the affidavit says.
“The door was now open and she could see (the boy) laying on the bed and there was blood all over the room. The employee advised she thought (the boy) was ‘dead’ because of all the blood and how he was laying down. She also advised his face was ‘purple’ in color.”
The employee, who reportedly became emotional while talking to police, told officers the mother was a short, white woman with black hair, and told them what she was wearing. The motel’s manager said he had witnessed the woman walking off motel property, and checked surveillance video to direct police which way she had traveled.
Patrol officers found the boy’s mother, who matched the given description, and took her to the police department to be interviewed on video.
Post Miranda, the woman “admitted that she was at the Motel 6 with (her son), that she attempted to suffocate him with a pillow, and that she stabbed (him) in the throat with scissors.” Bloody scissors were found in the motel room’s bathroom, the officer noted.
The woman also admitted that she was “high,” the officer’s statement says.
“When asked why she stabbed (the boy, she) responded, ‘I had to.’ When asked why she had to, (the mother) stated at different times that it was for ‘Satan’ or ‘Mother Mary.’ I advised (the woman) that (her son) was in surgery at the hospital and asked if she wanted him to recover, to which she responded, ‘no.'”
The officer was later advised the woman is on probations for a DUI conviction of driving under the influence, the statement says. The officer also learned of a Colorado protective order in which the child is the protected person, the probable cause statement says.
In addition, the suspect has an active warrant in Washington County for domestic violence, the statement says.
The woman is being held without bail in Washington County’s Jail.
Gephardt Daily will have more information on the case as it develops.
