Chicago mom allegedly kills 5-year-old daughter by slitting her throat, waits for cops to arrive and arrest her
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS: A woman who was known in her neighborhood as a "good mom" reportedly killed her five-year-old daughter by slitting her throat. 27-year-old Simone Austin allegedly murdered little Serenity Arrington at their apartment in East Garfield Park on the West Side on the morning of September 26, Fox 32 Chicago reported.
Chicago law enforcement responded to an address on the 3200 block of West Fulton Boulevard around 9.15 am following reports of a stabbing. When officers arrived at the scene, firefighters were already tending to the critically injured girl. 5-year-old Serenity was then rushed to Stroger Hospital, where doctors pronounced her dead. The Cook County medical examiner’s office said an autopsy conducted showed Serenity had died of “multiple incised wounds” to the neck and declared her death a homicide.
Neighbors recalled how Serenity had moved to the block just this summer and had made a big impression with her friendly smile in a rather short amount of time. In fact, they were expecting to see the youngster play with her older sister on that fateful day. “We had met them about a month ago because they had just moved in and they were living right across the alley from me as I said,” neighbor Tom Latimer told Fox 32. “And they had a kitten or a cat and they liked animals. They would visit with my dog and they brought their cat to meet my wife who’s a cat person."
Latimer remembered how the sisters would cheer up the neighborhood as they rode their bikes around. However, their absence on the 3200 block of West Fulton has left behind a deafening silence.
911 calls began pouring in just after 9 am on September 26, per the outlet.“Multiple calls came in so I know one of them came from inside the house, an older gentleman who was in the house as well,” said Chicago Police Officer Jose Jara. Authorities said Serenity had been repeatedly stabbed and succumbed to her injuries at Stroger Hospital. When officers arrived at the scene, they arrested a woman standing outside the residence — who reportedly appeared to be waiting for them. It was the child's mother, neighbors said, adding that the 27-year-old woman seemed out of character.
“Long as I’ve been knowing her she never seemed that way to me,” family friend Keith Smith told Fox 32, adding that he's still in shock. “When it happens and it’s somebody that you personally know that hits deep,” he said. Now, police are working with DCFS to try and determine if the woman in custody suffers from mental illness. “Detectives are looking into that, so they’re touching base with that and with DCFS and everything else,” said Officer Jara. “There were prior calls to the address. We just don’t know what happened today, but there were multiple calls in the past,” he added.
Meanwhile, neighbors said the woman appeared to be a good mother who often sat outside watching her girls as they played. That said, Simone Austin has been charged with one count of first degree murder.
. An investigation into the incident is being led by Area Four Detectives, per the outlet.