A Chicago mother is facing a first-degree murder charge after allegedly stabbing her two-month-old daughter to death and then jumping out of a second-floor apartment window. Tatiana Maxwell, 25, was arrested following the incident, which occurred around 8:45 a.m. on Friday, according to the Chicago Police Department.
Details of the Incident
Prosecutors stated that Maxwell apologized after the attack, saying, "I did not mean it," and asked for forgiveness, as reported by CBS News. The infant, identified by the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office as Nyhnia Stovall, was fatally stabbed around 7:20 a.m. inside an apartment complex. During a court hearing on Sunday, prosecutors revealed that Maxwell, the baby, and the baby's biological father were present in the apartment when Maxwell took Nyhnia from her bassinet and threatened to harm her.
Sequence of Events
Attorneys said that Maxwell barricaded herself in the apartment and stabbed Nyhnia in the chest, resulting in her death. Following the stabbing, Maxwell jumped out of a second-story window. A witness told Fox 32 Chicago that he saw police cars arriving and then observed Maxwell jumping from the window. "I didn't see it bleeding, but it looked limp and after that, they put two kids in the squad car... they took off and then, at that point, more squad cars came and two ambulances," the witness recounted. "Then I saw the lady hit the ground. I didn't see where she jumped from, but I did see her hit the ground and then fall on her side."
Legal Proceedings
Maxwell was not present at Sunday's hearing as she remained hospitalized undergoing a psychological evaluation. The infant was taken to the University of Chicago's Comer Children's Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Police recovered a knife at the scene. Maxwell is scheduled for a full detention hearing on Monday, authorities confirmed.
