Homestead Woman Accused Of Slashing Sister With Knife
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – A Homestead woman who was arrested after she allegedly cut her younger sister with a knife made her first appearance before a judge on Wednesday.
During the proceeding, the judge set bond at $50,000 for Magdalena Matias.
According to Matias' arrest report, Homestead police were called to Redondo Elementary School on February 27th after a 9-year old girl went to the nurse with a bleeding wound on her hand. The nurse told the school's counselor who called police. When asked how she was injured, the girl reportedly said her sister, who is also her guardian, had cut her with a knife.
A check of Department of Children and Family records revealed that the girl had been the victim of child abuse last year and was removed from her guardian's care.
According to the agencies report, the girl was brought in on May 4th, 2011 for an interview and medical evaluation. Investigators noted that she had bruises and scratch on her face, a bruise on her right wrist and 'linear' wounds on her hands as if she had been cut.
When asked where the marks came from, the girl reportedly said her sister had scratched her face and hit her in the wrist with a spoon. As for the cuts on her hands, the girl said "she cut me with a knife. It was big. It was from the kitchen," according to the report.
When asked why her sister had hit and cut her, the girl told DCF it was because her sister thought she had taken three dollars from her purse. The money was later found in the bottom of the bag.
When asked why Matias would think her younger sister had stolen from her, the girl replied "because she thought I was gonna buy something, but my brother game five dollars." According to the report, Matias then threatened to cut the girl if she didn't tell who took the money. The girl said when she didn't say anything, her sister cut her fingers and hit her over the head with the knife's handle.
The DCF report indicates during a subsequent therapy session, the girl made allegations which led the department to believe that she had been sexually abused. The report also noted that she was in the process of being adopted.
When officers went to question Matias about the latest incident, she admitted to having anger issues, according to her arrest report. She reportedly said on the day she cut her sister, she had been angry for 'an unknown reason.' She also reportedly admitted to scratching her sister on the cheek on a previous occasion because the girl had mixed 'hot sauce or some other condiment' into a bottle of milk she was preparing to give a baby.
Matias is charged with one count of aggravated battery on a child.
