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The 8-year-old boy had his gall bladder removed at Hackensack University Medical Center and is in stable condition, he said.
The mother, who then tried to slash her own throat, doesn’t understand English and was under the impression that the government was going to take her children away based on letters from school the girl had brought home, Casper said.
“They were normal school letters, like: ‘Are you interested in the lunch program, sports programs, parents night?’,” the detective said. “Nothing said anything about removing the children.”
“These required her signature [to prove to school officials that she’d seen them], but because she doesn’t read, write or understand English, she started feeling like they were going to take her children.”
“The 12-year-old daughter assured her, the husband assured her, but for some reason she was leaning more towards someone taking her kids from her.”
Casper said it “seems as though this might have been festering for some period of time.”
The mother, Elida Marroquin, is being treated at the Hackensack hospital and will be transferred to Bergen Regional Medical Center for a psychological evaluation, he said. The father is with his son, and their other children are with a family friend.
Police aren’t yet sure what country the woman is from. A Spanish-speaking officer in the department accompanied her to the hospital and got her version of what happened.
A passerby called police at 9:41 a.m. after the bleeding boy made his way out the front door to the stoop.
Moments earlier, his mother walked into the room while he was playing video games with his 2-year-old sister on his parents’ bed, Casper said. The boy screamed and his mother stabbed him as the 12-year-old ran in to see what was happening. The girl grabbed the toddler, and the children all ran out together, the detective said.
“The 12-year-old girl did such a good job,” Casper said. “She scooped up her 2-year-old sister and brought her out of harm’s way. Then she had the presence of mind to go back inside to get paper towels to stop her brother’s bleeding.”
Marroquin is charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault, weapons counts and child endangerment. Her bail is $500,000 cash; she must also surrender her passport. A court appearance is scheduled for Monday in Hackensack.
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