Salem Mother Accused Of Slashing Throats Of 2 Young Children
SALEM (CBS) — A mother in Salem is accused of trying to kill her two young children and burn their apartment in a failed attempt to cover up the crime.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Carl Stevens reports
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Twenty-five-year-old Tanicia Goodwin was arraigned Monday in Salem District Court on two counts of assault with intent to murder, two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and arson.
She did not enter a plea and was ordered held without bail.
Firefighters were called to Goodwin's seventh-floor unit at the Salem Heights Apartments for a small kitchen fire just after 9 p.m. Sunday.
That's when they found Goodwin's 8-year-old son, Jamal, and his 3-year old sister Erica with their throats slashed.
Prosecutor Melissa Woodard said Jamal told authorities his mother did it.
Jamal's wound was nearly ear-to-ear and so deep his trachea was exposed, Woodard said. Erica's wounds are not as serious.
They were rushed to Children's Hospital in Boston in critical condition.
Investigators said Goodwin had broken off the inside doorknob from the apartment, sealed the air vents with duct tape, covered the sprinklers and disabled the smoke alarm.
Hours after the fire, Goodwin showed up at Salem Police headquarters with a superficial knife wound on her neck and smelling like lighter fluid, investigators said..
Police say she shattered a lobby window and later confessed, implying it was supposed to be a murder-suicide.
"I'm not supposed to be here. I'm not supposed to be alive," Goodwin told police, according to Woodard. "I did what I had to do to protect my children."
Woodard said there were no indications of drug or alcohol use.
There's still no word on a motive.
Goodwin is due back in court next week.
