Mom Admits To Stabbing 3-Month-Old To Death; Heart, Lungs Pierced By Knife

A woman arrested on suspicion that she fatally stabbed her 3-month-old child at a Weston apartment building on Dec. 30 confessed to doing the crime.

Police arrested 31-year-old Krista Brunecz on Friday in relation to the child's death. According to a criminal complaint 12 News obtained Monday, the deputies arrived at the scene of the alleged stabbing before 8:00 a.m. after receiving a call about "blood all over the apartment."

Upon entering the apartment, deputies found a woman "kneeling in front of the couch with a lifeless infant in her arms," a second woman covered in blood, and a bloody butcher knife, the complaint said.

Both Brunecz and the infant were taken to Stonewall Jackson Memorial Hospital for treatment of stab wounds. However, the child was later pronounced dead, the Lewis County Sheriff's Office said. Brunecz was stabilized and then transported to Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown. Brunecz's wounds were believed to be self-inflicted.

On Jan. 2, a medical professional who cared for Brunecz told deputies that Brunecz said she had "stabbed her baby and then herself" and that no one was involved in the child's death.

The autopsy of the child released on Jan. 3 indicated that the 3-month-old's heart and lungs had been pierced by the knife. It also confirmed that the baby had died due to "several stab wounds to the chest."

Brunecz was held in the North Central Regional Jail and charged with the death of a child by a parent, guardian, or custodian by child abuse. Brunecz could face 15 years to life in prison if convicted.

In related news, the North Miami Beach police responded to an apartment last year after a woman called saying she had killed her child, Miami Herald reported.

Police found a dead 3-year-old girl with fatal wounds to her neck and chest. They also found the child's mother walking around wearing a white robe and talking incomprehensibly. A knife was on the ground next to the child, police said.

The child's mother, identified as Jellisa Baxter, 24, was booked into jail and charged with aggravated child abuse and first-degree murder, according to Miami-Dade Corrections. Baxter was denied bond.