A 40-year-old mother in Kentucky has been accused of attempting to beat her 6-year-old daughter to death with a hammer, repeatedly striking the child in the head in front of her sibling.
Zeinab Abdi was arrested on Thursday and charged with one count of attempted murder with domestic violence, authorities said.
According to a post-arrest complaint obtained by Law&Crime, at 12:49 p.m. on Thursday, officers from the Louisville Metro Police Department’s 2nd Division responded to a “trouble run” at a residence in the 2900 block of Wilson Avenue. Police were informed that a child was “struck in the head with a hammer by her mother.”
When first responders arrived at the address, they found a 6-year-old girl “down” inside the home with “blunt force injuries to her head.” Authorities stated that she had suffered “multiple skull fractures and brain bleeds.”
Emergency medical personnel transported the victim, who has not been identified by authorities, to Norton Children’s Hospital for treatment, where she was listed in critical condition. According to a news release from police, the 6-year-old was still in critical condition Friday morning.
Because of the nature of the child’s injuries, the department’s homicide unit arrived on the scene and took over the investigation. Abdi was later arrested in connection with the alleged assault on her daughter.
“During a post-Miranda statement, the listed suspect [Abdi] stated she frequently becomes extremely angry and has difficulty controlling herself,” according to the police complaint. “She stated today she became overly angry and struck the victim in the head with a hammer an unknown amount of times.”
Abdi’s son, whose name and age were not disclosed, gave a similar account of the terrifying attack on his sister.
“During an interview with the listed suspect’s son, he stated while restraining her after the assault, she stated to him ‘let me finish her’ while attempting to return to the victim,” according to the record.
Abdi is currently being held at the Louisville Metro Detention Center. Bond information was not readily available. She was due to appear in court for her arraignment Friday morning.
Several neighbors who spoke with Louisville CBS affiliate WLKY expressed shock at the allegations.
“I just think it’s terrible,” neighbor Donald Edison told the station. “I don’t know what type of pressure the child’s mother is under for her to do something like that.”
Brittany Lindell, who also lives in the area, told WLKY that the news of the attack gave her “cold chills” and described it as disgusting.
“I don’t understand how someone could get to that point of anger,” she said. She continued, “especially with an innocent child.”
