Mom allegedly held girls captive before binding them, stabbing eldest, torching home
TULSA, Okla. -- A Tulsa woman allegedly held her three daughters captive for a week before binding them, stabbing the eldest 50 to 70 times, torching the home and fleeing with the youngest girl as the middle child, 9, escaped and ran for help.
Taheerah Ahmad, 39, was arrested in downtown Tulsa Tuesday afternoon. Authorities accuse her of attacking her 11-year-old daughter Monday night and then fleeing with her youngest daughter, 8. The youngest daughter, who authorities initially said was 7, was found safe with her mother in their car.
According to an arrest report, Ahmad told investigators she was upset with her children "because of the way they were reading and looking at her." The report said Ahmad wanted to burn down the residence to "further ensure that (the 11-year-old) was dead." The girl remains in critical condition.
The arrest report indicates the 9-year-old who ran for help told detectives the girls' mother "forced them to stay in their rooms without food or water" and threatened to stab them if they tried to leave. The 9-year-old told police that their mother placed socks in their mouths, bound their hands with duct tape and began stabbing the eldest child, police say.
The arrest report said the eldest girl fought back while Ahmad was restraining her three daughters, which prompted Ahmad to stab her an estimated "50 to 70 times." The report said Ahmad also struck the girl over the head several times with a pickaxe before setting the house on fire.
The 8-year-old girl helped her 9-year-old sister escape, and the middle child ran to a neighbor for help, police said. When officers arrived, they found the 11-year-old girl in the burning home and Ahmad and the youngest child missing.
The 11-year-old had dozens of stab wounds to the torso along with puncture wounds to her legs, neck, hands and face, according to the report.
Tulsa Police Sgt. Shane Tuell said Ahmad may never have been arrested if two women hadn't spotted Ahmad's vehicle in downtown Tulsa. Video from CBS Tulsa affiliate KOTV that captures Ahmad's arrest shows her youngest daughter, wearing a dress and a brightly colored hat, playing in their SUV as officers led Ahmad away in handcuffs.
Two women walking in downtown Tulsa said they saw the missing 8-year-old standing out of the sunroof of the vehicle, apparently playing, and a woman lying inside, reports KOTV. The women recognized the vehicle from the Amber Alert and called 911, they told KOTV.
"We just happened to be walking by and, as moms, we both noticed a girl sitting alone, what we thought was alone, in a vehicle. And we kind of looked at each other and were like, 'Why is that little girl by herself?'" they said. "And then we heard somebody else laying down in the back seat, 'No, I think her mom's back there.'"
When they realized the child and the vehicle matched the description in the Amber Alert, they called 911.
Ahmad was being held Wednesday on complaints of arson, child abuse and assault and battery with the intent to kill. She was jailed without bond.
Ahmad declined to comment to reporters later Tuesday as officers transported her to jail.