Two young children, aged 12 and 9, were forced to stop their mother from strangling their 6-month-old sister to death when she allegedly locked them in a room and attacked them in their Florida home.
Ailenys Carmenate, 31, tried to murder her three children on Saturday in their apartment in Hialeah, South Florida, before the two eldest managed to fight her off and save their baby sister from their mother’s grasp, authorities said.
The two older siblings, a 9-year-old girl and 12-year-old boy, pulled their mother’s hair, bit her arms, and kicked her to try to stop her as she attacked the three children.
The harrowing attack reportedly took place when Randy Montano, the baby’s father, and stepfather of the other two children returned home from work.
Ailenys Carmenate, 31, (above) tried to murder her three children on Saturday in their apartment in Hialeah, South Florida, before the two eldest managed to fight her off and save their baby sister from their mother’s grasp, authorities said
Montano told officers that Carmenate locked their 6-month-old daughter, and her 12-year-old son and 9-year-old daughter inside a bedroom and turned off the lights.
He said he could hear the young children screaming.
‘I just killed a six-month-old baby,’ Carmenate said, the children told officers.
The mother allegedly attacked the 6-month-old infant, trying to strangle her ‘by pressing her elbow against the victim’s throat’, the police report said.
The 9-year-old girl attacked her mother, kicking, biting and pulling her hair in desperate attempts to save her little sister, according to the police report.
While his sister was struggling with his mother, the 12-year-old boy managed to unlock the door and Montano ran inside to find Carmenate’s hands wrapped tightly around the baby’s throat, the report said.
The two older siblings, a 9-year-old girl and 12-year-old boy, pulled their mother’s hair, bit her arms, and kicked her to try to stop her as she attacked them
![Carmenate sobbed and wiped back tears in court on Monday (above right) as Miami-Dade County Circuit Judge Mindy Glazer (left) said her older children were 'hero[es]'.](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2020/02/26/02/25202636-8044909-image-a-18_1582682966448.jpg)
Carmenate sobbed and wiped back tears in court on Monday (above right) as Miami-Dade County Circuit Judge Mindy Glazer (left) said her older children were ‘hero[es]’.
The distraught father said he struggled with the assailant and Carmenate and the baby fell to the floor.
The irate mother then allegedly turned her attentions to her son, trying to choke him, the police report said.
When the boy managed to escape he told police he saw his mother dragging his 9-year-old sister by the hair and strangling her as well.
The girl told police her mother squeezed and twisted her throat to the point where she ‘could no longer breathe, and thought she was going to die.’
The report said Carmenate then released the girl, who then fled for her life.
Officers were called to the scene and arrested Carmenate on suspicion of attempted murder of her three children.
The father of the baby said it was the first time Carmenate had acted like this and that he believed she may be suffering from post-partum depression. Carmenate is facing several charges including two counts of premeditated attempted murder. She has been ordered to have no contact with her children
Carmenate sobbed and wiped back tears in court on Monday as Miami-Dade County Circuit Judge Mindy Glazer said her older children were ‘hero[es]’.
The brave 9-year-old had suffered ‘neck trauma, which caused bleeding and swelling,’ the judge said.
Meanwhile, the baby was unconscious and sustained a head injury in the attack.
The baby girl is now doing fine, Montano told Fox 6.
The relieved father also said it was the first time Carmenate had acted like this and that he believed she may be suffering from post-partum depression.
Carmenate is facing charges including two counts of premeditated attempted murder, two counts of kidnapping a child under 13, three counts of false imprisonment of a child under 13, two counts of aggravated child abuse with great bodily harm, two counts of domestic battery by strangulation and child abuse.
She has been ordered to have no contact with her children.
The apartment in Hialeah, South Florida, where Saturday’s attack took place. The 9-year-old had suffered ‘neck trauma, which caused bleeding and swelling’ in the incident, the judge said
The harrowing attack had reportedly taken place when Randy Montano, the baby’s father, and stepfather of the other two children returned home from work to the property