Grandmother Stabs 7-Year-Old Girl In Front Of Baby Sister Multiple Times; Arrested

A 65-year-old woman allegedly stabbed her 7-year-old granddaughter multiple times in front of the child's 4-year-old sister at a New York residence.

The incident occurred inside a Clinton Avenue apartment in the Morrisania section of the Bronx on Tuesday morning, according to ABC7NY. The children's paternal uncle, who was also in the apartment when the stabbing occurred, called 911 at around 8:14 a.m. and reported that his mother, identified as Mariza Yauger, had stabbed the child.

Responding officers rushed to find the child covered in blood on a bed. Instead of waiting for an ambulance, cops rushed the girl to a hospital in their police cruiser.

"We just seen the cop running out with the child. The child was full of blood. We didn't even know what was really going on and what was happening at the moment," Morrisania resident Ana Martinez told CBS2.

"The cop car was right in front of my property. So he just put her right in the cop car. He didn't wait for the ambulance," Martinez told ABC7NY.

The victim's parents, who reside in New Jersey, joined the 7-year-old girl at the hospital with her younger sister. Meanwhile, the accused grandmother was also taken to a hospital before she was arrested.

The stabbing left the child with a perforated lung and may have also possibly punctured her kidney. An ultrasound revealed that she had internal bleeding near the heart.

Doctors found that the child had lost about one-third of her total blood volume and gave her a blood transfusion. The girl underwent surgery and is now reportedly in stable condition.

Officials said Yauger has a history of mental health issues. The grandmother was charged with attempted murder, attempted manslaughter, assault, criminal possession of a weapon, reckless endangerment and endangering the welfare of a child.

Residents in the area who knew Yauger said she loved her granddaughter and would buy her sweets whenever she paid a visit from New Jersey.

"She adored that girl," Yauger's longtime friend, Eva Devers, 66, told the New York Post. "I said, 'it can't be!'"

Maria Castillo, 47, who works at a local beauty salon, said Yauger would bring the 7-year-old girl to the salon from time to time to pamper her and get her hair and nails done.

"She worshipped her granddaughter," Castillo told the outlet. "When she brings the granddaughter I said, 'Why you give her everything?' She says, 'I have two sons. I have no daughter. I loved my granddaughter. I give her everything.'"