Joliet police investigating, community rattled after 6-year-old boy fatally stabs younger brother

JOLIET, Ill. (WLS) -- Even Joliet police officers are shaken by this investigation.

Detectives and officials with the Department of Children and Family Services are trying to figure out how and why a 6-year-old boy was able to stab his little brother to death with a kitchen knife.

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An eerie somberness hangs over Fairway Drive, a perfectly regular family neighborhood block in Joliet.

As people picked over goods at a nearby yard sale on a Saturday afternoon, most still are not ready, or do not know how to talk about what happened a few houses down at this family home Friday evening.

"It's messed up. It's hard to process, and I just hope the best for the family," said neighbor Giovanni.

Police said the family, a mother and grandmother, are both reeling.

Around 5 p.m. Friday, police said, they rushed to the block responding to a panicked 911 call from a mother.

Investigators said she had just found her 2-year-old son stabbed multiple times with a kitchen knife by her older, 6-year-old son.

"In our opinion, everyone in this incident is a victim. There's just such a sense of humanity in incidents like this, for both the people and the family directly involved in this incident, and also, frankly, our officers who respond. We are all human beings, and this has definitely taken a toll on everyone involved," said Joliet Police Sgt. Dwayne English.

DCF coordinated with the Will County Health Department Screening Assessment Support Services to have the 6-year-old transported by ambulance to a local hospital for a mental health evaluation.

Giovanni lives right next door and spoke well of the family.

"They're adorable. The kids are adorable," Giovanni said.

Like most people there, he really doesn't know what to say.

"It's hard to process, because I have a little 6-year-old as well," he said.

That's why Illinois Youth and Family services showed up with donuts and coffee, Saturday morning.

"You can't wrap your mind around how that makes a person feel. That's why I say we just want to be a presence here in whatever way we can be a comfort to the community," said Illinois Youth and Family Services Outreach Supervisor Jaron Nabors.

A handshake, and perhaps a hug and a cup of coffee can help the aching confusion of why police say one little boy killed his baby brother.

"We are always looking for the why," said English. "Those are answers we are hopeful that we are going to get, but we may never get just because of some of the difficulties that surround the investigation."

Investigators said the boy's mother and family are cooperating with police.

It is an incredibly sensitive situation.

For now, police have not given any indication of what, if any criminal charges could come out of this.