Husband in custody after wife, toddler stabbed

PHILADELPHIA -- A woman and her 21-month-old daughter were stabbed in the West Oak Lane section of Philadelphia early Sunday morning, and police say her husband is now in custody.

Stephen Burton, 41, was being sought in relation to the stabbing in the 1900 block of Dallas Street around 12:30 a.m. On Sunday evening, police said he was taken into custody in Baltimore, Maryland.

Police say his tag was read by a license plate reader either at a bridge or a tunnel. He was apprehended without incident.

Stephen Burton faces an extradition hearing on Tuesday morning.

His wife, 37-year-old Danecia Berrian Burton, and the child are in critical condition.

Donletta Bolds from Lancaster was visiting her mother next door when she watched the horrifying events unfold.

"I heard her scream. It woke me up out of my sleep," Bolds said. "They were always arguing, but this wasn't the same. Something was like 'go and see what is going on.'"

Bolds says she looked into the neighbor's window and saw Danecia pinned to the floor.

"I could see through the blinds he was on top of her, doing whatever he was doing to her, and I started banging on the door," said Bolds.

Bolds said she ran to get her cell phone to call police. She said that's when Stephen Burton fled in his car.

"When I first went in the room she was laying on her stomach. Her whole bed was filled with blood," Bolds said.

Burton was taken to Einstein Medical Center with multiple stab wounds to her body and is in critical condition.

Her 21-month-old daughter was transported to St. Christopher's Hospital for Children with a stab wound to the chest and is also listed in critical condition.

Both are said to be stable.

Danecia Burton was known as Nina Knockout during her rough and tumble days of roller derby, but now neighbors say she is an elementary school teacher with the School District of Philadelphia.