A public defense attorney raised concerns about the mental health of an El Paso woman accused of stabbing a 14-year-old boy multiple times at their Upper Valley home.
The El Paso police SWAT team arrested Janie Ann King, 44, after a more than four-hour standoff following the stabbing on the evening of Sept. 2 at the family's home in the 400 block of Nordstrom Avenue, police spokespersons said.
The boy was stabbed and severely cut with a knife multiple times in the neck, arm, and torso, causing severe wounds and blood loss, according to a complaint affidavit obtained by the El Paso Times.
King was arrested on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and is jailed under a $100,000 bond at the El Paso County jail in Downtown.
A bond hearing
scheduled to have taken place on Thursday, Sept. 10, was reset to Tuesday, Sept. 15, after public defense attorney Maya Quevedo expressed concerns about King's mental health status, explaining that King told attorneys that "she's not eating and she's not going to drink water."
Magistrate Judge Antonio Aun suggested a health evaluation.
El Paso Police Department spokesman Officer Adrian Cisneros said he could not disclose if there is any familial relationship between King and the boy because the child is a victim.
No motive for the knife attack is mentioned in a complaint affidavit filed by a detective with the EPPD Crimes Against Children Division, which specializes in investigating child abuse and neglect.
'She's trying to kill me'
The 14-year-old boy told a detective that he was in his room playing video games when King entered holding a small silver knife in one hand and a red-and-black baseball bat in the other before she started cutting him while he was sitting on his gaming chair, the affidavit stated.
The boy told police that he told King to put the knife down but she instead began stabbing him and cut his right palm when he attempted to take the knife from her before he ran out of his room, the affidavit stated.
The boy's brother told a detective that he was in his bedroom on the first floor when he suddenly heard slamming, running and screaming coming from upstairs before seeing his brother fall off a step or two at the top of the stairs covered in blood, the affidavit stated.
"She's trying to kill me. She's trying to kill me," the wounded boy yelled as he quickly crawled down the stairs as King chased him down the stairs, the brother told investigators, according to the affidavit.
The brother tried to stop King, but backed away when he saw she was still holding the knife in her left hand. The brother grabbed and held up a kitchen stool to protect himself before getting his wounded brother into his room and locking the door, the affidavit stated.
The boy "had been cut everywhere" and was bleeding heavily, his brother told detectives. The brother ran into a restroom and grabbed a towel, then a second, to try to stop the bloodshed, the affidavit stated.
Medical staff told investigators that the wounded boy had two stab wounds on his neck, two stab wounds to his right arm, a stab wound on his torso by his left armpit and a cut to his right-hand palm, the affidavit.
'Lots of blood'
The police officer first dispatched on the stabbing call told detectives that the brother let him inside the home while King was inside the garage. The officer noted "seeing lots of blood on the floor upon entering," the complaint stated.
While King remained in the garage, the officer covered the door to make sure she didn't return into the house to continue the assault and ordered the people in the home to exit and the wounded boy was transported to University Medical Center of El Paso, the affidavit stated.
King remained barricaded inside the garage for more than four hours in a standoff that ended when the special weapons and tactics team entered the garage and took her into custody, police said.
Daniel Borunda may be reached at dborunda@elpasotimes.com and @BorundaDaniel on X.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: 'She's trying to kill me.' El Paso woman accused of knife attack on boy
