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Bizarre: 'I stabbed my 2-year-old son'

Published Tuesday, August 28, 2012

US: The 911 call from Chevonne Thomas was rambling and incoherent, but authorities said she made one thing clear: Her 2-year-old son had been stabbed, and "I did it."

What police found at her Camden rowhouse in the US was even more horrifying. Thomas had decapitated her son and placed his head in the freezer.

The 33-year-old mother later fatally stabbed herself after hanging up on emergency dispatchers, a violent end to a troubled life.

Thomas only recently regained custody of son Zahree after allegedly leaving the boy unattended in a car, telling police she had smoked marijuana laced with the hallucinogenic drug PCP and blacked out in a nearby park.

Distraught family members who arrived at the scene late Wednesday morning were shocked and declined to comment.

Some neighbours described strange behaviour by Thomas, who had just moved to the street. Others saw no evidence of problems.

"Because, had we known something was up, I'm quite sure all the neighbours on this block would have talked to her," said Tayari Horcey, who lives a few doors from Thomas. "But, you know, people hold stuff in. You don't know what's going on."

The state's child welfare agency said in a statement that Thomas had been receiving counselling and support services since a court-ordered reunification with her son April 3.

She previously lost custody of Zahree to relatives and was ordered to undergo treatment for substance abuse and mental health disorders, according to the Department of Children and Families.

Thomas was charged with child endangerment in the 2010 car incident, but the case was dropped because of a problem with a witness, said Jason Laughlin, spokesman for the Camden County prosecutor's office.

The gruesome events began unfolding Tuesday night in Camden, an impoverished, high-crime city across the Delaware River from Philadelphia.

Neighbor Melanie Troutman reported seeing Thomas and her boyfriend sitting on the steps of their home, a familiar sight. But Troutman said that on this night, Thomas was topless and "clearly upset." Horcey insisted Thomas was clothed.

About two hours later, Thomas called 911. During the call, she first accused her boyfriend of stabbing Zahree, but then quickly recanted.

"You know what, I did it, I'm lying, I'm lying, I'm lying, I did it," she said, according to a recording of the rambling, often incoherent call released.

"I did it, I did it, I did it," she repeated later.

When asked if she takes medicine, Thomas said she used to take the antidepressant Prozac.

"I didn't take it today, but I should have," she said.

Police later found Zahree's body on the first floor of his mother's home, then discovered his head in the freezer.

A medical examiner found a chest stab wound and marks on the child's arms, Laughlin said.

Thomas stabbed herself in the neck with a kitchen knife shortly after hanging up on dispatchers, Laughlin said.

The Department of Children and Families said its staff had visited with the family regularly and was in communication with all service providers.

The agency said it would investigate the deaths of both mother and child.

The department has been under the supervision of a federal judge and undergone a major overhaul since 2003 as a result of high-profile lapses in the oversight of children.

Thelma Moore, a former neighbour, said Thomas had exhibited mental health issues during the several years she'd known her.

Moore described her as being in "a world all to herself," and said Thomas had seen a behavioral health therapist.

"She just walked around and talked and cursed to herself," Moore said.

But Thomas' landlord, who did not want to be identified, said the woman had lived at the home for two months and was a perfect tenant, keeping the apartment tidy.

Court records show Thomas faced dozens of judgments and liens filed in civil court in New Jersey dating back to 2002.

Sleeping beauty misses plane stop

PARIS: A Frenchwoman who was a passenger on a Lahore-Paris-Lahore flight slept through the Paris arrival and woke up only after the plane was well on its way to Lahore again.

Pakistan International Airlines' crew is now being investigated for the serious lapse, reports BBC. Even the ground staff responsible for passenger handling at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris did not miss her upon landing and disembarkation of all the other passengers.

Patrice Ahmed is married to a Pakistani national and was on her way to Paris from Lahore. The mistake came to light only after she disembarked in Lahore after the round trip.

The airlines told the news channel that whoever was found guilty would have to pay for the woman's ticket. However, the airline did accomodate the passenger on its next flight to Paris.

Woman greeted with urine, faeces on front door

SINGAPORE: A woman was greeted with total rubbish outside her door several times in a week. The filth, including human faeces and urine, were initially suspected to be something that the cat dragged in and left outside her front door.

However, a few days later, she found that someone had even splled dishwashing liquid and rice all over the entrance, reports Asia One.

The woman resorted to writing a warning notice in English and Chinese and pasting it outside her gate. Things did not change.

Finally, she bought a CCTV camera and installed it ouside her entrance. When she saw the video clippings she saw that the culprit was not a feline but an unknown elderly lady with short white hair who had dumped smelly large brown lumps which closely resembled human faeces the previous night.

Shoplifter busted after he chokes on red-hot chillies

LONDON: A man who lifted some food items and some super hot chillies from an Asian store in London was caught red-handed when he bit on those chillies and doubled up in pain and stomach cramps.

The store owner was suspicious and had followed him quietly. When he found the shoplifter coughing and vomiting on the pavement, he called for help, reports news agency ANI.

Police officers found some more hot peppers in his pocket along with a bottle of juice and milk shake.

Unfortunately for the shop lifter, he had bitten on Scotch Bonnets, which are one of the hottest chillies with a heat rating of 100,000 to 350,000 Scoville heat units, compared with 2,500 to 8,500 for a jalapeno.

Man steals Ebola patient's phone, gets infected

UGANDA: A man who crept into the isolation ward of a hospital in Kibaale district to steal in the dead of the night has got the dreaded disease - Ebola.

He stole a mobile phone which belonged to a patient hit by Ebola. The victim passed away but he told the authorities about his missing phone before he died. The Ugandan thief reportedly caught the disease from the hospital patient, reports Uganda's Daily Monitor.

The officials trailed the mobile phone, which was being used by the thief, and sent the man for some tests. He had already started showing some symptoms of the deadly hemorrhagic fever and approached medical authorities.

The thief told the police that he had entered the isolation ward to give relief and comfort to the patients who were not even known to him.

The thief might have to pay with his life for stealing the $23 phone.

Mother-daughter unite after 48 years through Facebook

US: A singularly sweet story in which a mother and her daughter meet after a gap of 48 years. The daughter, Stephanie Phillips used Facebook to reach out to her mother whom she had last seen when she was a mere baby in 1960s.

The duo met up in person within a month of connecting with each other, reports news agency ANI.

Stephanie's parents had married young but after she was born to them, her parents fell out and her mother left home alone. The little girl was brought up by her father and his family. She was not allowed to discuss her mother.

Meanwhile, the mother got married again and had another child and adopted a baby as well.

While the daughter lives in Pennsylvania, the mother had relocated to Florida. The two plan to renew their relationship.

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The page was last updated on: 15 January 2016 09:50