April 14, 2024
Thom Carroll/for PhillyVoice
A 28-year-old woman has been arrested and charged following two separate, 'random,' stabbings in Center City on Saturday that injured a 24-year-old woman and a 1-year-old boy, police say.
UPDATE (Monday): Takeira Hester, 28, was arrested on Saturday at 7:19 p.m. on the 400 block of N. 63rd Street. She was charged with several counts of attempted murder, aggravated assault and other related charges.
See the original story below.
A person of interest is in custody following two separate stabbings in Center City on Saturday that injured a 24-year-old woman and a 1-year-old boy, police say.
Police took the person of interest into custody shortly before 7:30 p.m., NBC10 reported. Police have not revealed the identity of the individual in custody. During a press conference Saturday evening, Philadelphia Police Captain Frank Banford referred to Takeira Hester as a possible suspect. Hester has a warrant out of New York City for aggravated assault charges and was also previously arrested for aggravated assault, police say. Police said they were not sure whether Hester had ties to Philadelphia.
MORE: Separate shootings across Philly result in 3 deaths and 3 injuries
The first stabbing on Saturday happened at 7:57 a.m. on the 1300 block of Chancellor Street, according to police. A 24-year-old female was walking, when another female "rushed up to her" and stabbed her, according to Banford. The 24-year-old was hit in the chest and the hand before the other female "took off." Banford referred to the attack as "completely random."
The victim was transported to Jefferson University Hospital, 6ABC reported, where she was treated and later released. Following that stabbing, police put out a patrol alert to officers.
Then, at 12:45 p.m., the second stabbing took place on the 300 block of S. 18th Street. Two parents were walking their 1-year-old twins in a stroller when one of the boys was stabbed in both arms.
"It looked like this female just rushed up to them, nothing was said, complete random, tried to stab both children," Banford said.
Medics transported the child that was stabbed to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and police said he is in stable condition.
The injured baby's father gave chase after the stabbing. During the chase, the female offender dropped her bag, according to police. Authorities were able to recover information inside the bag that helped lead them to a potential suspect. They also said they found the coat that the female attacker was wearing from the first scene inside the bag.
Police determined that the same woman was involved in both attacks. She was armed with a weapon that Banford described as a "long knife," possibly a kitchen knife.
The second stabbing occurred outside Temple Beth Zion-Beth Israel (BZBI) synagogue. Officials from the synagogue told 6ABC that the attack near its property was not antisemitic.
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