Woman Accused Of Attacking Adults, Infants Charged With Attempted Murder
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - The woman accused of stabbing and slashing two adults and three infants at an unlicensed child care in Flushing, Queens, now faces five charges of attempted murder.
Five people, including three infants, were slashed and stabbed early Friday morning at an unlicensed child care facility in Flushing, Queens. The alleged attacker was also injured by what police said appeared to be self-inflicted wounds.
Charges against Yufen Wang, 52, were announced Saturday morning.
Police were called to a home on 161st Street around 3:45 a.m. when neighbors reported yelling.
Authorities say Wang slashed three little girls, a 63-year-old female coworker in the leg and arm and a 31-year-old father in the leg and wrist.
According to the Queens district attorney's office, the child victims included a 13-day-old newborn, a 22-day-old infant and a 33-day-old baby.
The victims were rushed to area hospitals in critical but stable condition.
Six other children, four girls and two boys, inside the home were not hurt. The DA's office said there were nine babies present during the assault and at least 11 cribs in the three-story building.
Police said they found the suspect unconscious in the basement with self-inflected wounds to her wrists. She was taken into custody and is undergoing a psychiatric evaluation at New York-Presbyterian/Queens hospital.
Police also found two knives in the home — a butcher's knife and meat cleaver.
Investigators are using Chinese translators to interview the people who live there.
"Part of the building is living quarters, they're apartments, multiple families," NYPD Assistant Chief Juanita Holmes said.
Police said they found paperwork that suggested the house was being used as a day care, but authorities said the facility was not licensed, reports CBS2's Andrea Grymes.
Officials said it may have been an after-birth care facility following a Chinese custom of letting a woman who just had a baby to rest for a month. Women without a family home nearby or financial means can turn to use a home such as this one where there are people to help take care of a child.
