Police: NJ Mom Stabbed Son, Self Over Custody Fear

BERGENFIELD, N.J. (AP) — A New Jersey mother whose inability to understand English apparently misled her to believe that her children would be taken away stabbed her 8-year-old son with a steak knife, then tried to kill herself, police said.

Elida Marroquin was charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault, child endangerment and weapons offenses following Saturday's incident at the family's home in Bergenfield. Bail was set at $500,000, and both she and the child were expected to recover from their wounds.

Authorities were still working to confirm what country Marroquin is from and other personal details about her. More information was expected to be made public when she is arraigned on Monday.

Authorities said the 37-year-old married mother of three, who does not read English well, grew stressful and mistakenly feared she would lose custody of her children after receiving several letters from their school in recent weeks.

"It seems to us that this may have been something that has been building up the last couple of weeks," Bergenfield Police Detective John Casper told The Record of Bergen County. "She was under the impression that at some point her children were going to be taken from her," despite numerous reassurances from her husband that she had nothing to be concerned about.