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Overview: Depiction of a Chili’s Bar & Grill situated in Homestead, Florida (via Google Maps). Inset: Celestine Ward (courtesy of Miami-Dade County Corrections and Rehabilitation).
A Florida woman is behind bars after her own grandchildren reportedly told police that she allegedly attacked their mother.
Celestine Ward, aged 57, faces an attempted murder charge following her detention by Homestead law enforcement officers on Wednesday. As outlined in an arrest document secured by WPLG, a local ABC station, officers reacted to an incident at a home on Wednesday afternoon where they discovered Ward’s daughter-in-law lying on the ground in severe condition. The daughter-in-law, whose name is undisclosed, was airlifted to the hospital where she remains critically injured.
Upon questioning the children present at the scene, Ward’s granddaughter allegedly disclosed to the police, “Grandma started to kill mommy with the knife.”
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Ward’s granddaughter also reportedly told police that before the alleged stabbing, her mother and father were both having an argument and the father left the home. Ward then reportedly began arguing with the girl’s mother, and the verbal altercation allegedly turned physical.
According to Ward’s granddaughter, “Grandma started to kill mommy with the knife. The knife is in the room under the bed.”
The arrest affidavit stated that police interviewed the alleged victim at the hospital. She corroborated what her daughter said about the argument they had at home, explaining that she and Ward had been at a Chili’s Bar & Grill earlier that day, where they consumed alcoholic beverages.
The alleged victim reportedly told police that she remembered Ward charging at her and she defended herself. Then Ward allegedly stabbed her multiple times.
Ward also provided a recorded statement, police said in the affidavit. In her statement, Ward said that her daughter-in-law was the one who allegedly attacked her, punching her in the face. Police noted that Ward did not have signs of visible injuries.
WPLG reported that the children were taken into the custody of the Florida Department of Children and Families.
Ward was arrested on Wednesday and is being held without bond at Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.