A woman who allegedly tried to suffocate her 8-year-old son and stabbed him in the neck in a St. George motel was charged with attempted murder, child abuse and violation of a protective order.
The boy suffered “potentially life-threatening injuries,” according to St. George police, but after undergoing surgery is “expected to survive.”
According to a probable cause statement, an employee at the Motel 6 at 205 N. 1000 East told police that at about 9 a.m. on Thursday, she saw the boy running through an alley and screaming for help, saying that his mother was trying to “suffocate” him. His mother, later identified as St. George resident Megan Michelle Stewart, was running behind him. The mother told the employee, “Don’t worry, he just got his butt whooped.” She returned to her room with her son.
About two hours later, a motel employee talked to the boy outside his room, and he said his mother wanted to kill him. The employee told the boy to go back in the room while she contacted police. She then went to the front desk and called 911.
When the employee returned to the room, she saw the boy lying on the bed. She told police there was “blood all over the room,” and the boy’s face was purple, leading her to think he was dead.
The boy suffered “multiple neck lacerations,” according to police. He was taken to Intermountain St. George Regional Hospital, where he underwent surgery.
The motel manager told police he saw the suspect walking off the property. She was detained a short time later.
According to the probable cause statement, when Stewart was questioned she admitted she tried to suffocate her son with a pillow and that she stabbed him in the throat with scissors. (Police found bloody scissors in the motel room’s bathroom.) Stewart also said she was “high.”
When asked why she stabbed her son, Stewart said “I had to,” adding that she did it for “Satan” or “Mother Mary.” When Stewart was informed her son was in surgery and asked if she wanted him to recover, she said, “No.”
The woman was booked into the Purgatory Correctional Facility and faces a first degree felony charge of attempted murder, a second degree felony charge of child abuse and a Class A misdemeanor charge of violation of a protective order. According to the indictment, attempted murder is “punishable by imprisonment for an indeterminate term of not fewer than three years and which may be for life.” She is being held without bail.
