A 26-year-old mother from Chicago appeared in court for the first time on Monday. She was charged with stabbing her 7-year-old son, allegedly because he had made a mess in their apartment in Rogers Park.
Staff at Evanston Hospital alerted the authorities on Saturday morning when the child was brought in with a puncture wound to his abdomen. The boy was later moved to Lurie Children’s Hospital, where he had surgery for his severe injuries and was reported to be in fair condition.
The mother, Llovana Torres, was taken into custody a few hours later. She was charged with aggravated battery of a victim under 13. According to WTTW, prosecutors stated in court on Monday morning that Torres was upset when she woke up to find a mess in the apartment that she had spent the previous night cleaning.
The mother allegedly hit the boy several times before he ran into a kitchen and hid in a cabinet under the sink. When she was unable to drag the boy out, she grabbed a knife and stabbed him repeatedly until he yelled “Ouch!” the prosecutors said.
At that point, she took the bleeding child to another apartment in the same building, where her mother lived. The child’s grandmother told Torres to take the boy to a hospital, which she did.
According to prosecutors, Torres told her mother she had threatened to “cut or stab” the child if he didn’t come out of the cabinet. They also said she called her mother after her arrest and told her not to tell anyone what happened or at least tell “a different story.”
The boy had a ruptured diaphragm and remains hospitalized with a ventilator.
Torres allegedly told police that she accidentally stabbed the boy because she was waving the knife around in the cabinet while trying to find him.
A judge ordered her held without bond pending trial.
Her next court appearance is June 13, Block Club Chicago reported.
