Uncle Charged In Stabbing of Two Children And Their Mother

UPDATE: Benito Martinez has been charged with three counts of aggravated assault in the stabbing of his 7 and 8-year-old nieces and their mother.

Both children are still in the hospital, their mother has been released.

(Memphis) Two girls were stabbed by their uncle Thursday afternoon in an attack that also injured their mother.

The seven- and eight-year-old girls and their 37-year-old mother will recover. The girls had stab wounds, and their mother had a laceration to the forehead.

Memphis police have the uncle in custody, but no charges have been filed as of Thursday night.

Police said that around 4:45 p.m., the grandmother of the family called 911 to report the stabbing.

Neighbors heard the mother scream for help.

“I saw her hanging outside of the window.  And she was saying, someone please help me. Oh my god, oh my god, someone please help me,” said Darius Oliver, a neighbor.

Oliver is a preacher at a nearby church. He could not believe what he saw in his typically peaceful apartment complex.

“Bandages around their head, I saw blood on the mother and the sister, and I also saw blood around the heads of the children.”

Another neighbor, Martha Stuckey, said, “When they brought the children down on the stretcher, they weren’t moving at all, so that really just touched my heart.”

The suspect’s sister said her 32-year-old brother is mentally challenged.

“Do your research. My brother has been institutionalized for 15 years…he needs to go back to the hospital. My mother couldn’t understand that,” she said.

The sister did not want to be identified. She said there was a serious incident last month with another child, but no one was hurt.

Oliver said he has seen the man walk around the complex, asking people for cigarettes and saying whatever comes to mind.

A worker saw him being questioned by police.

Oliver said, “He was very comical about it, laughing, which is another sign to let you know that he’s not in his right mind. He was saying he doesn’t know why he did it; he guessed the devil made him do it.”

As neighbors stared at the crime scene, Oliver said he considers this a big wake-up call.

“Pray that everyone come together in unity, pray that we know one another. And hey, if it’s a problem going on, we should be able to reach one another, touch one another and ask you know what, is there anything I can do to help?”