Mom dies after hammer attack that also left kids critically injured
PRINCESS ANNE, Md. -- Authorities say a 25-year-old Maryland woman has died days after she and her two children were critically injured in a hammer attack.
Princess Anne Police Chief Tim Bozman said by telephone Monday that police were notified that Airealle Sells died over the weekend. Police said in a statement that her 8-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son are in critical but stable condition.
Sells’ ex-boyfriend, 26-year-old Sharef Dontre Hayward of Baltimore, was initially charged with attempted murder, but Bozman says investigators are consulting with the Somerset County State’s Attorney’s Office for modification of charges against Hayward.
Bozman says Hayward stabbed Sells and then assaulted her and the children with a hammer. Hayward is the father of one of the children, Bozman told Delmarva Now.
At a recent bond hearing for Hayward, Somerset County State’s Attorney Dan Powell called it “one of the most horrific crimes that I’ve seen in 16 years,” the website reports.
News outlets report that Sells was granted a protective order against Hayward a day before the attack.