West Virginia mother allegedly stabbed her 3-month-old child to death
01/23/2023 2:20 pm PST
WESTON, W.Va. (TCD) -- A 31-year-old mother was arrested and charged after allegedly stabbing her 3-month-old child to death.
According to a criminal complaint obtained by WBOY-TV, on Friday, Dec. 30, shortly before 8 a.m., Lewis County Sheriff's deputies responded to an apartment complex to a report of a deceased child. There, deputies reportedly found a woman inside the apartment "kneeling in front of the couch with a lifeless infant in her arms."
Deputies also located a second woman who was covered in blood and a bloody butcher knife nearby, WBOY reports.
One of the women, 31-year-old Krista Brunecz, reportedly suffered self-inflicted stab wounds. She and her 3-month-old child were transported to a hospital, where the baby was pronounced dead, according to WBOY.
The baby's shirt reportedly had "several holes in the chest area," which "appeared to be inflicted by a knife."
Medical staff reportedly determined that Brunecz "stabbed her baby and then herself."
The baby's heart and lungs had been punctured by a knife, and it was determined the victim had died due to "several stab wounds to the chest," WBOY reports.
On Friday, Jan. 20, Brunecz was booked into the North Central Regional Jail and charged with death of a child by a parent, guardian or custodian, by child abuse, records show. She could face 15 years to life if convicted.
One of the suspect's relatives told WDTV-TV that Brunecz suffered from postpartum depression.
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