A woman in custody following the "random" stabbing of a 1-year-old boy in Philadelphia was formally charged Sunday with attempted murder, the district attorney's spokesperson said.
Takeira Hester, 29, was arrested after a backpack left at the scene of the attack led authorities to her, authorities have said.
Philadelphia police called her both a person of interest and a suspect, but Dustin M. Slaughter, a spokesperson for the Philadelphia district attorney, said she has now been charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault and "related charges."
The case alleges "three assaults," he said, declining to elaborate.
The boy's twin was riding in the same double stroller and appeared to be targeted but unharmed, police said.
Police described the victim of a previous attack only as a 24-year-old woman who survived after she was stabbed twice about 8 a.m. Saturday in Philadelphia's Center City. The assailant fled.
A few hours later, officials said, a woman approached the twins in the double stroller at the south end of Center City, stabbing the 1-year-old boy twice, once in each arm, before fleeing, police said.
“It looked like this female just rushed up to them, nothing was said, completely random, tried to stab both children but got one child in each arm," Police Capt. Frank Banford said at a news conference.
He said the weapon appeared to be a long kitchen knife. It hasn’t been recovered.
The toddlers' father gave chase, and, as the woman fled, she dropped a black bag, Banford said.
The toddler was stabilized at a hospital, police said.
Contents of the bag led police to the woman they initially identified as a person of interest, Banford said. It also contained a coat police believe the attacker wore in the first stabbing Saturday, he said.
Investigators were trying to determine a motive, Banford said. And they want to know why Hester was in Philadelphia.
Hester had an active aggravated assault warrant from New York City, he said. Manhattan court records didn't turn up cases for Hester, and authorities in New York City didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.
