Mother Arrested for Allegedly Attacking Daughter with Machete

A Philadelphia woman accused of attacking her 3-year-old daughter with a machete on Sunday night has been arrested.

Officers were called to a home in the 5900 block of Mascher Street in north Philadelphia around 8:30 PM on Sunday regarding reports of someone screaming. Police found the little girl “covered in blood and being consoled by multiple individuals,” reports stated.

Police said neighbors told them they saw Lauren Rodriguez, 34, hit her daughter several times with a weapon.

Neighbor Pauline Williams told CBS Philly that all the neighbors rushed over to help the child when they saw what had happened.

“I saw the daughter with her head split open from her mother with a machete,” she recalled. “Thank God for the neighbors. They all got together, and they really helped that little girl.”

The child suffered skull fractures, lacerations, and bruises from the alleged attack. Reports said she was later listed as being in stable condition at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children.

Williams told reporters that the 3-year-old repeatedly said her mother tried to give her a haircut. “All the girl kept saying was ‘My mommy tried to cut my hair’ that’s what the little girl was saying. I don’t think she thinks her mother would hurt her. They’re very close and it’s sad,” she commented.

Witnesses told police that they saw Rodriguez standing at the top of the stairs inside the home and that she appeared incoherent.

“She came out with her hands all cut up, asking if she could get a pair of shoes,” one neighbor recalled. “She was very incoherent. She didn’t know what was going on.”

Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross said there is a possibility the mother was on drugs at the time of the alleged assault, adding that investigators were awaiting the results of a toxicology test.

“Neighbors said it is the second time the police were at the house in recent days; they said the last time police retrieved weapons from the home including machetes after another member of the household assaulted someone,” ABC 6 reported.

Authorities said the mother faces charges that include attempted homicide, aggravated assault, and child endangerment.