A mother is facing a first-degree murder charge after allegedly stabbing her 2-month-old daughter to death — and then jumping out of a second-floor window of a Chicago apartment.
Tatiana Maxwell, 25, was arrested after she allegedly “fatally stabbed a female infant” around 8:45 a.m. Friday, the Chicago Police Department said.
Prosecutors said that Maxwell later apologized, saying, “I did not mean it,” and asked for forgiveness, according to CBS News.
The baby, identified by the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office as Nyhnia Stovall, was stabbed to death that morning around 7:20 a.m. inside an apartment complex, prosecutors said during a court hearing Sunday, CBS News reports.
Maxwell, baby Nyhnia and the baby’s biological father were inside an apartment when Maxwell took Nyhnia out of her bassinet and threatened to hurt her, prosecutors said.
Attorneys said that Maxwell barricaded herself in the apartment and stabbed Nyhia in the chest, killing her. The mother then jumped out of a second-story window, authorities said.
A witness told Fox 32 Chicago that he saw police cars arriving — and then Maxwell jumping out of the window.
“I didn’t see it [the baby] 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 cards came and two ambulances,” he told the outlet. “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.”
Maxwell was not present at Sunday’s hearing as she was still in the hospital undergoing a psychological evaluation, according to the report.
The baby was taken to the University of Chicago’s Comer Children’s Hospital, where she was pronounced dead, police said.
Police said they recovered a knife at the scene.
Maxwell is set to have a full detention hearing on Monday, authorities said.
