A Chicago woman is facing 14 charges, including one of first-degree murder, after police accused her of stabbing a child to death and setting fire to their home.
Police were called to Wendy Tolbert’s home in the Logan Square section of the city just after 9:00 am on Friday morning after someone called 911 to report a person armed with a knife, reports NBC Chicago.
Upon arrival, officers found the home engulfed in flames and three injured children inside. One child, named Jordan Wallace, 4, was stabbed in the stomach. He was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Another boy, 11, was stabbed and is being treated for serious injuries, while the other victim, a 13-year-old girl, was stabbed in the face, back, and chest. Her condition has been described as “serious” by authorities at Stroger Hospital. All of the victims were stabbed with a knife.
The teenage girl is thought to have called 911.
It’s unclear whether Tolbert, 45, was the mother of the children in the home. Grandparents of one of the children told The Chicago Sun-Times that Tolbert is a “relative” of the children.
Police say that Tolbert locked the children in the home, took their cellphones, stabbed them, and then set the house on fire.
When officers located the 11-year-old, he had been frantically running around the home looking for a way out, according to The Times report.
Two adult neighbors were also treated for smoke inhalatio,n as were three of the responding officers. The fire spread to the neighbor’s home and caused their roof to collapse, authorities said.
Among her charges, Tolbert is charged with six counts of felony aggravated arson and multiple counts of aggravated battery. The suspect was initially taken to Community First Medical Center for a psychiatric evaluation. It’s not clear if she is still being held at the hospital.
The authorities have not publicly disclosed a possible motive for the attacks.
The Department of Child and Family Services told CBS Chicago that they have had no previous interactions with the family.
