A Pennsylvania mother is dead and her 4-year-old daughter fighting for her life after a brutal attack by the girl’s father.
“Daddy had a knife,” the girl told detectives. She suffered life-threatening injuries to vital organs, WFMZ reported.
Richard Fantauzzi-Aviles, 38, has been charged with homicide, attempted homicide, aggraated assault, and endangering the welfare of a child.
The Northampton County District Attorney’s Office said the girl was airlifted to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where she was last listed in critical but stable condition.
The DA’s office said that Fantauzzi-Aviles flagged down a Wilson Borough Police at about 10 a.m. on Wednesday and told investigators, “I feel like they made me take her life.” When they asked who, he told them he meant his wife.
He told police he needed to go to the hospital, then gave them his address and house keys. Once at the scene, the officers found blood at the top of the stairs and in the bedroom, and 38-year-old Shante Mason dead from multiple stab wounds. The 4-year-old was next to her, conscious and speaking.
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Officers found a large kitchen knife in the room that they believe was used in the attacks.
Fantauzzi-Aviles’ sister called police while they were at the scene and said he’d called her and admitted to killing Mason.
One neighbor, who didn’t share their name, told WFMZ that “There’s a few times I wanted to call, make a report because there’s always yelling and fighting and banging on the walls.” Other neighbors reported remembering police responding to the home in the past, but the DA’s office said there were no prior domestic calls reported to police.
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[Featured image: Shutterstock]
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