LEWIS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA: A West Virginia mother, 32, who claimed the life of her three-month-old baby girl after allegedly stabbing her chest multiple times with a butcher's knife, has been charged with murder. The court records released earlier this year described a gruesome scene inside the apartment where Krista Anne Brunecz is accused of brutally killing the tot before she tried to commit suicide.
According to a criminal complaint obtained by Virginia ABC affiliate WSET-TV, Lewis County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to the Weston Manor apartment complex located on Hickory Lane at around 8.30 am on December 30 last year regarding a report about a child being stabbed. It was apparently a neighbor who dialed the 911 dispatcher and told that she was in Brunecz’s home where there was a dead child and “blood all over the apartment.”
Who is Krista Anne Brunecz ?
Krista Anne Brunecz ruthlessly knifed her three-month-old daughter to death. Brunecz was indicted on one count each of murder and death of a child by a parent or guardian by child abuse by a Lewis grand jury, authorities announced. The two deputies who arrived at the scene found Brunecz “kneeling in front of the couch with a lifeless infant in her arms,” Clarksburg, West Virginia NBC affiliate WBOY-TV reported. It has been reported that a bloody butcher knife was discovered next to the couch.
The infant's heart and lungs were pierced by the knife
Both the mother and child were immediately rushed to Stonewall Jackson Memorial Hospital but unfortunately, the baby was declared dead at 8.15 am. An autopsy report later determined that the girl's heart and lungs had both been pierced by the knife. Her death was determined to be a homicide caused by “several stab wounds to the chest,” the outlet reported.
What happened to Brunecz?
Brunecz received treatment for self-inflicted stab wounds to the head, chest, and wrist areas after she was admitted to the medical facility. She was then airlifted to Ruby Memorial Hospital when she was in stable condition for more specialized treatment due to the seriousness of her injuries.
Investigators at Brunecz's apartment reportedly said they found the child's clothing, a shirt with multiple holes in the chest area that was said to have been pierced with the butcher knife found at the scene.
Investigators spoke to Brunecz’s mother about the incident
Brunecz’s mother told the investigators that her daughter sent a photograph showing herself drenched in blood and holding her “lifeless” daughter at about 6.50 am on the day of the murder.
A nurse practitioner from Stonewall Memorial Hospital who looked after the accused during her stay, spoke to the authorities on January 2 this year. She said that Brunecz admitted to stabbing "her baby, then herself,” when the nurse asked what happened to her and her baby. The nurse also added that Burnez admitted to purposefully trying to kill herself and the child.
