On Tuesday 17 November, the unthinkable happened: a mum stabbed her two-month-old infant son to death.
According to a news report by abc13/KTRK-TV, 28-year-old US mother Rochelle Brown has been charged with capital murder, “accused of killing her infant, Levi Thornton-Smith.”
Reportedly, Brown stormed into her sister’s room, screaming and holding the baby in “an improper manner.” Brown then allegedly assaulted her sister after she was told to go back to sleep, returning to the bedroom with a knife as the little one cried on the bed.
News reports say that that there was a struggle between the two women before Brown pushed her sister out of the bedroom.
Horrifically, when the sister was able to return to the room, she reportedly encounted Brown stabbing the screaming baby’s body.
Images that can’t be un-seen
A neighbour heard a woman screaming and after running to Brown’s apartment, says “he will never be able to ‘un-see’ the images now burned in his memory.”
When he entered the bedroom, he saw baby Levi on the floor, with several stab wounds. The mother’s hands were covered with blood and she was reportedly pacing up and down.
Brown has two other sons, but they were asleep and unharmed. Reports say that Brown and her children had moved in with her sister recently after Brown separated from her husband.
The motive for the killing is yet unknown, say investigators. But defence attorney George Parnham, speaking to KTRK-TV says it is possible Brown may have been suffering from postpartum depression.
The murder of little Levi is truly gruesome and sad and we hope the little angel is now in a better place.
At the same time, this is yet another incident that draws our attention to potential psychological issues that mothers of newborns and infants can face — such as postnatal depression and postnatal psychosis.
Please, seek help if you or someone you know is feeling low or depressed after giving birth.
Watch the news report on the incident below.