Police Probe Murder Of 4-Year-Old Girl
Mother Still Hospitalized In Possible Murder-Attempted Suicide
BLOOMINGDALE, Ill. (CBS) - Police are investigating the death of a 4-year-old girl in west suburban Bloomingdale, whose mother is believed to have killed her and then tried to commit suicide.
As CBS 2's Mike Puccinelli reports, police were still on the scene in the 200 block of Amherst Court in Bloomingdale as of 5 a.m. Thursday.
They responded around 1:30 p.m. to a call of a domestic situation in a townhouse on the block. When they arrived, they found the little girl, and there was nothing they could do to save her life.
The girl had been stabbed in the throat.
Earlier, police say an 18-year-old girl reported the crime when she came home and found the gruesome scene. She ran next door begging for help.
"As I was coming in my house, a young lady was running up the driveway to us, and she was saying, 'help me, help me, help me,' and she fell to her knees," said a neighbor.
Neighbors say the 18-year-old and the slain 4-year-old are both daughters of the woman found injured at the scene. Officials say initial indications are that it appears to be a case of murder-attempted suicide.
Neighbors say the 43-year-old woman was embroiled in a bitter custody dispute involving the child who was killed. The 4-year-old was described as shy and polite.
"The fact that it's a 4-year-old girl, please. That poor thing. That's awful," said another neighbor.
The mother was taken to Adventist Glen Oaks Medical Center in Glendale Heights, where she was being treated under police guard as of Wednesday morning. She was reported in good condition.
No charges had been filed as of 5 a.m. Thursday.
CBS 2's Mike Puccinelli, Pamela Jones and the Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.
