Neighbors say they wish a Virginia mother frustrated by a baby that wouldn't stop crying had reached out to them for help.
Instead, Leah Arrington, 35, is accused of stabbing her three-month-old baby.
“It seems like she could’ve cried out to somebody," said Verleanor Cobb, who lives nearby in Woodbridge, Virginia. “She could’ve knocked at the door; she could’ve done something. It just hurts me.”
Arrington is in jail and will appear in court Friday, where a judge will consider whether she can be released on bond.
Her baby, meanwhile, is being treated at a hospital.
"Right now, the baby is still in critical condition, but we’re hopeful that the baby will survive," said Officer Nathan Probus of Prince William County Police.
Police said the baby would not stop crying, and "the mother just got agitated," Probus said. Police said the mother reacted by stabbing the baby, then called the baby's father.
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The father called 911.
Neighbors, meanwhile, are still stunned.
“She seemed pleasant and everything like that," said Cobb. “I was shocked; I was really shocked.”