A 26-year-old mother from Chicago appeared in court for the first time on Monday, facing charges of stabbing her 7-year-old son, allegedly due to a mess he made in their Rogers Park home.
Police were alerted by staff at Evanston Hospital on Saturday morning when the boy arrived with a stab wound to his abdomen, as reported by CrimeOnline. The child was then moved to Lurie Children’s Hospital, where he underwent surgery for his significant injuries and his condition was deemed fair.
Llovana Torres was taken into custody several hours later, charged with aggravated battery of a victim under 13, according to WTTW. During the court session on Monday morning, the prosecution stated that Torres was upset after waking up to find the apartment she had cleaned the previous evening in disarray.
The mother allegedly hit the boy several times before he ran into a kitchen and hid in a cabinet under the sink. When she was unable to drag the boy out, she grabbed a knife and stabbed him repeatedly until he yelled “Ouch!” the prosecutors said.
At that point, she took the bleeding child to another apartment in the same building, where her mother lived. The child’s grandmother told Torres to take the boy to a hospital, which she did.
According to prosecutors, Torres told her mother she had threatened to “cut or stab” the child if he didn’t come out of the cabinet. They also said she called her mother after her arrest and told her not to tell anyone what happened or at least tell “a different story.”
The boy had a ruptured diaphragm and remains hospitalized with a ventilator.
Torres allegedly told police that she accidentally stabbed the boy because she was waving the knife around in the cabinet while trying to find him.
A judge ordered her held without bond pending trial.
Her next court appearance is June 13, Block Club Chicago reported.
