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| Day Care Worker Stabs 3 Infants and 2 Adults in Queens, Police Say | Day Care Worker Stabs 3 Infants and 2 Adults in Queens, Police Say |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Update: Officials suspect that the residence was used for so-called birth tourism — to house women who traveled to the United States to give birth to children to secure them American citizenship. Read more. | |
| Kayla Cho woke up shortly after 3:30 a.m. on Friday to the sound of screaming coming from a home on the block where she lives. Another neighbor, Mike Hsu, heard loud thuds. Soon the frightening noises turned into a cry for help from what neighbors described as a day care in a red brick townhouse in Queens. | Kayla Cho woke up shortly after 3:30 a.m. on Friday to the sound of screaming coming from a home on the block where she lives. Another neighbor, Mike Hsu, heard loud thuds. Soon the frightening noises turned into a cry for help from what neighbors described as a day care in a red brick townhouse in Queens. |
| “A woman was screaming, ‘Help me! Somebody just help me!” Ms. Cho said. | “A woman was screaming, ‘Help me! Somebody just help me!” Ms. Cho said. |
| Moments later, the police swarmed the block and discovered a ghastly scene: three infants, including a 3-day-old, and two adults, had been stabbed by an employee who then cut her own wrist. | Moments later, the police swarmed the block and discovered a ghastly scene: three infants, including a 3-day-old, and two adults, had been stabbed by an employee who then cut her own wrist. |
| The employee, Yu Fen Wang, 52, of Queens, was charged Friday night with five counts of attempted murder, the police said. A motive for the stabbings was unclear. She remained hospitalized on Saturday. | |
| The stabbings occurred at about 3:40 a.m. at the facility, a residential day care center in the Flushing neighborhood, the police said. The infants, all of whom were less than a month old, were taken to NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. One of the adults who was stabbed was the father of one of the infants, the police said; he was stabbed in the leg. The other adult was a co-worker of the employee and was stabbed in the torso, the police said. All of the victims were in critical but stable condition. | The stabbings occurred at about 3:40 a.m. at the facility, a residential day care center in the Flushing neighborhood, the police said. The infants, all of whom were less than a month old, were taken to NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. One of the adults who was stabbed was the father of one of the infants, the police said; he was stabbed in the leg. The other adult was a co-worker of the employee and was stabbed in the torso, the police said. All of the victims were in critical but stable condition. |
| The facility was first identified as a day care center but according to the New York State Office of Children and Family Services, the facility was not a licensed or regulated child care program. Monica Mahaffey, a spokeswoman for the agency, said that state-regulated child care programs are prohibited from caring for infants less than six weeks of age unless they meet additional requirements. | The facility was first identified as a day care center but according to the New York State Office of Children and Family Services, the facility was not a licensed or regulated child care program. Monica Mahaffey, a spokeswoman for the agency, said that state-regulated child care programs are prohibited from caring for infants less than six weeks of age unless they meet additional requirements. |
| Some neighbors said they had seen pregnant Chinese women frequenting the facility, raising suspicions among some of them that it was also operating as a birthing hotel for Chinese visitors who want to secure American citizenship for their children. | Some neighbors said they had seen pregnant Chinese women frequenting the facility, raising suspicions among some of them that it was also operating as a birthing hotel for Chinese visitors who want to secure American citizenship for their children. |
| Ms. Cho said there were “many people living there, many kids.” She and other neighbors said they saw women who appeared to have arrived pregnant from China at the home. | Ms. Cho said there were “many people living there, many kids.” She and other neighbors said they saw women who appeared to have arrived pregnant from China at the home. |
| Sheng Long Peng, 70, who lives next to the building housing the day care, said he had seen the homeowner, who is from California, arrive in his car with pregnant women. | Sheng Long Peng, 70, who lives next to the building housing the day care, said he had seen the homeowner, who is from California, arrive in his car with pregnant women. |
| Another neighbor, Bryan Kim, 19, said he also noticed pregnant women showing up at the home. | Another neighbor, Bryan Kim, 19, said he also noticed pregnant women showing up at the home. |
| “About a month ago I saw two women come out, both pregnant,” he said. “My mom and I had never seen them before.” | “About a month ago I saw two women come out, both pregnant,” he said. “My mom and I had never seen them before.” |
| But some officials suggested that the home may have also served as a maternity facility for Chinese women who are in the United States legally but have no relatives to help them. Councilman Peter Koo, who represents the neighborhood, said it was a Chinese tradition for women to rest and be cared for a month after they give birth. When family is not available, often in immigrant communities, businesses may fill the caretaker role. | |
| “If they don’t have family they rely on outside support,” Mr. Koo said, adding that he’s “not sure that’s what this place did.” | “If they don’t have family they rely on outside support,” Mr. Koo said, adding that he’s “not sure that’s what this place did.” |
| Assemblyman Ron Kim, who also represents the neighborhood, said that the home where the infants were stabbed had been registered as a business, but not as a day care center. | |
| On Friday morning all three infants, two girls and a boy, were in critical condition; one of the girls sustained more serious injuries than the others, said Juanita Holmes, assistant chief in the Police Department’s Patrol Borough Queens North. | On Friday morning all three infants, two girls and a boy, were in critical condition; one of the girls sustained more serious injuries than the others, said Juanita Holmes, assistant chief in the Police Department’s Patrol Borough Queens North. |
| When officers first arrived at the location, the employee who had cut her own wrist was unconscious, the police said. But she regained consciousness after officers applied a tourniquet to stop the bleeding, and the employee, 52, was placed in police custody. | When officers first arrived at the location, the employee who had cut her own wrist was unconscious, the police said. But she regained consciousness after officers applied a tourniquet to stop the bleeding, and the employee, 52, was placed in police custody. |
| Two police investigators in white crime scene suits went in and out of the home all Friday morning. An officer behind the house guarded a large, white passenger van. | Two police investigators in white crime scene suits went in and out of the home all Friday morning. An officer behind the house guarded a large, white passenger van. |
| Two knives were recovered at the scene, the police said. Also visible Friday morning beside the townhouse’s welcome mat and next to a Pampers box was a purple puddle of blood. | Two knives were recovered at the scene, the police said. Also visible Friday morning beside the townhouse’s welcome mat and next to a Pampers box was a purple puddle of blood. |
| Chief Holmes said that the police had no previous calls to the home but that New York City’s 311 hotline received a complaint in 2011 about crying children there. | |
| The day care facility is inside a house in Flushing that is home to multiple families and nine infants, the police said. | The day care facility is inside a house in Flushing that is home to multiple families and nine infants, the police said. |