Police in Illinois arrested a 26-year-old woman for allegedly stabbing her 7-year-old son with a kitchen knife because he made a mess overnight.
Llovana Torres has been charged with aggravated battery of a child, according to a Chicago police press release. The incident took place Saturday morning in the 1700 block of West Touhy Street. According to a court filing by the Cook County State Attorney’s Office, Torres spent the entire night cleaning the apartment before going to bed, but when she awoke the next morning, she discovered her son had thrown the house back into chaos.
Torres became enraged and allegedly assaulted the boy multiple times. To avoid being beaten, he ran into the kitchen and crawled into the cabinet beneath the sink, according to prosecutors. The defendant attempted to remove her son from the cabinet, but was unsuccessful. She then grabbed a silver kitchen knife and began stabbing him until he said “ouch,” according to state attorneys.
According to prosecutors, when the boy began bleeding, Torres grabbed him and ran downstairs to her mother’s apartment. He had a stab wound to the abdomen, and Torres’ mother “demanded” that she take him to the hospital “right away.” Torres complied and rushed him to Evanston Hospital.
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According to prosecutors, medical personnel airlifted the boy to a children’s hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery for a ruptured diaphragm. The wound required several sutures to close. He remained hospitalized on Monday, with a chest tube and ventilator in place.
Detectives spoke with Torres’ mother and an 11-year-old cousin. The cousin allegedly told cops that he heard Torres tell her mother that she had told the victim that if he didn’t come out of the cabinet, she would “cut or stab him,” according to the proffer. After Torres was arrested, the cousin allegedly overheard Torres telling her mother to “not tell anyone what had happened and to tell a different story,” prosecutors stated.
Following Miranda, prosecutors allege Torres told detectives she “accidentally stabbed” her son while “waving the knife around” while looking for the victim under the cabinet. She identified the knife she used, and police later recovered it.
Torres was ordered to jail by a judge on Monday. Her next court date is set for June 13.