A woman and a child allegedly beaten and stabbed by the child’s father over the weekend remain hospitalized but are expected to survive, according to police in Prince William County, Virginia.
The two were attacked on Friday night at the Dominion Middle Ridge apartment building on the 3600 block of Meandering Way in Woodbridge.
Upon arriving at the scene, police said, an officer saw 25-year-old Javier Mauricio Molina carrying a child, who was covered in blood, from the building.
“He observed the accused lay the child on the ground and repeatedly strike that child,” said Sgt. Jonathan Perok, a Prince William County police spokesman.
After a struggle, police said, Molina was taken into custody and first aid was used on the child, an 8-year-old girl, before additional medical help arrived. Police also learned that Molina’s 25-year-old girlfriend, the child’s mother, had been stabbed inside the apartment.
“Thankfully, all of our officers are issued trauma kits, and those trauma kits proved to be extremely helpful not only for the child, but for her mother as well in providing that immediate first aid to them until the rescue personnel could get on scene,” Perok said.
Both victims were taken to the hospital with critical injuries, and they are in stable condition.
“It’s most certainly a tragic case here, and it could have been much more tragic. But thankfully our victims are going to pull through,” Perok said.
Molina has been charged with two counts of aggravated malicious wounding. Police are investigating the motive of the attack.
