4-year-old witnessed grandmother allegedly stabbing 7-year-old sister

MORRISANIA, Bronx -- Police say a 4-year-old girl was the only witness to the stabbing of her 7-year-old sister, allegedly at the hands of her own grandmother in New York City.

Police say that the girl was inside the Bronx apartment with her sister, paternal uncle, and paternal grandmother on Tuesday morning.

At about 8:14 a.m., the 7-year-old girl's uncle called 911 and told them that he just woken up and noticed that his mother had stabbed his niece.

Police arrived within five minutes and found the girl laying lifeless on the bed and covered in blood. She had been stabbed more than a dozen times.

They rushed her to their police cruiser and drove her to a local hospital.

"He came out running from where he was at with the little girl. The property that they have is a couple of houses away. So we just seen that he came out running. The cop car was right in front of my property. So he just put her right in the cop car. He didn't wait for the ambulance," Ana Martinez said.

The grandmother, 65-year-old Mariza Yauger, was taken to St. Barnabas Hospital with the paternal uncle.

The victim was joined at the hospital by her parents, who live in New Jersey, and her 4-year-old sister. There is no prior ACS history with the family.

Detectives were told by doctors at the hospital that the girl suffered a mid to lower-neck tracheal laceration and laceration to the left torso, which perforated the lung. The victim also received an ultrasound which revealed that she had internal bleeding near her heart and had approximately lost one-third of her total blood volume. She also was found to have a possible punctured kidney.

The girl was given a blood transfusion and sent to surgery and she is now stabilized.

Police say that the girl's parents were interviewed while she was in surgery, but her 4-year-old sister was forensically interviewed back at the apartment.

Yauger was later arrested and charged with attempted murder, attempted manslaughter, assault, criminal possession of a weapon, reckless endangerment, and endangering the welfare of a child.

According to detectives, the grandmother has a history of mental health issues.