A woman accused of stabbing a 3-year-old boy who lived next door to her home was arraigned Thursday afternoon in Mason Municipal Court where she entered a not guilty plea.
Xiaoyan Zhu, 46, in Deerfield Twp. had been hospitalized and under evaluation since March 4 when she allegedly stabbed the child with a ceramic knife, according to the Warren County Sheriff’s Office. She was booked Wednesday afternoon into the Warren County Jail.
Judge D. Andrew Batsche set bond at $1 million cash or surety and set a preliminary hearing for 2 p.m. April 15, according to court records.
Batsche also set a number of conditions for Zhu if she is released on bond, which includes electronic monitoring; having no contact with the alleged victim or family; and to stay at least 1,000 yards away from the alleged victim, the family and their home.
The incident was reported by Zhu’s daughter during an online classroom session with her teacher, who then called 911.
Deputies responded between 8:30 and 9 a.m. March 4 to a home on Charleston Park Drive in Deerfield Twp. after the victim’s mother and a teacher reported the stabbing. Deputies confirmed the boy had been stabbed with a ceramic knife by a neighbor. He was taken to a local hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening.
“Somebody’s just stabbed my son,” the boy’s mother said in a frantic 911 call.
The boy’s mother said she heard screaming and saw her next door neighbor standing on her driveway and stabbing her son.
“I saw her with a knife standing above my child,” she said.
The woman said her son was walking around and crying. His back was covered in blood, but she said his injuries looked more like scratches.
Around the same time the child’s mother called, a Mason High School online learner told her teacher that her mother was stabbing someone. The teacher immediately called 911.
Tracy Carson, spokeswoman for the Mason City School District, said in a statement released March 4 that the victim was the younger sibling of a Mason Early Childhood Center student, and that the children were outside on their way to the bus stop at the time of the stabbing.
Carson said at the time that the child was expected to make a full recovery and that a mental wellness team was at the scene with Warren County deputies and was providing support to both families.
