Woman allegedly stabs 3 children, 1 fatally, before setting Logan Square house on fire, police say

CHICAGO (WLS) -- A woman allegedly stabbed three children, one fatally, inside a Northwest Side home before setting it on fire on Friday morning, Chicago police said.

A 4-year-old boy is dead, and seven other people, including two kids and three police officers, were hospitalized following the domestic-related incident.

ABC7 spoke to a family next door who lost everything in the fire and witnessed how the tragedy unfolded.

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Officers responded to a call about a person with a knife inside a brick home in the Logan Square neighborhood's 3600-block of West Palmer Street just before 9:15 a.m.

"I got this child yelling for help out the basement window. We're trying to get her out of the window. I do see blood," a 911 caller said. "She's covered in blood, got the knife away from her."

First responders came upon a working fire that hid a bloody scene inside.

A 45-year-old woman allegedly used a knife to stab the three children before setting the home on fire, police said.

Police said a 4-year-old boy, stabbed in the chest, was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The Cook County Medical Examiner's Office identified him as Jordan Wallace.

A 13-year-old girl, stabbed in the face, chest and back, was taken to Stroger Hospital in critical condition.

A 10-year-old boy, stabbed in the arm, was taken to the same hospital in serious condition.

"It was devastating. You never want to hear that anyone's life is taken, especially a child. And for three kids, for this to happen, it's devastating," said neighbor Angie Perez.

Sources said the thick smoke and fire crept next door next door, damaging the neighbors' roof.

Two people inside that neighboring home, a 31-year-old woman and a 34-year-old man, were taken in fair condition to Stroger Hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation.

Three police officers were also taken in fair condition to nearby hospitals to be treated for smoke inhalation.

One family witnessed the carnage Friday morning.

"My dad was right here when he heard the arguing, and he saw the lady chasing a kid with a knife," said Edward Rivas, who lived next door. "Supposedly they just moved in a couple months ago."

Plywood only covered the damage after the fire tore through 36 years of the family's history in Logan Square.

"So everything that we had and that we owned, everything is gone," Rivas said.

Rivas said his father saw the 45-year-old woman, the suspect police took into custody, start the fire.

"All she said was 'good morning' to him and went back inside. That was it... After she stabbed them. The kid ran and hide," Rivas said. "How can you stab three kids, especially a four, five-year-old, defenseless kid that can't do nothing? And then you throw a bag of fire in the house."

The Red Cross is helping the family who lived next door.

"All we lost was the house, material. We probably could build up again, but for the kid, his loss, there's nothing for that. There's no coming back on it," Rivas said.

Extensive street closures were in place around the crime scene earlier Friday. Other neighbors said they spent their Fourth of July morning waking up to sirens.

"It's sad, because today is a day of celebration. It's sad," neighbor Juan Miranda said, in Spanish. "Something like this has never happened in the neighborhood. It's sad. It should have never happened to this family."

Sources said the suspect was transported to Community First Hospital, but her condition was not immediately known. Police confirmed that she remains in custody.

Police would not confirm a relationship between the suspect and the three children, but said the incident was domestic in nature.

"A tragedy like this will trump any kind of happiness in the future," Perez said. "These lives are ruined, you know? There's no happiness for them. A tragedy like this will trump any kind of happiness in the future."

Area Five detectives are investigating.

Further information was not immediately available.

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