A Massachusetts mother and her nine-month-old son are now dead after a stabbing Monday night being investigated as an “apparent murder-suicide”, authorities said Tuesday.
The incident took place at a home in North Andover, about 45 miles north of Boston. Police responded to a 911 call at Turnpike St. just before 5:30 p.m. and found the two victims, 35-year-old Jennifer T. Paez and her infant son, Valentino.
Both mother and son were found with apparent stab wounds, the Essex County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release.
Paez was pronounced dead at the scene, officials said. The infant was taken to Lawrence General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at approximately 6:30 p.m
Authorities have not released further details about the incident, but a preliminary investigation indicates Paez injured her son before taking his own life.
“While everyone, understandably, is still struggling to understand what went so terribly wrong here, our deepest sympathies go out to the family of Jennifer Paez and her son Valentino,” Essex County Prosecutor Paul Tucker said in a statement Tuesday.
Tucker also thanked local and state police for helping the victims’ family “in the wake of this unimaginable crime.”
Local and state police said in a statement Monday that the case is being investigated as one “isolated incident” without major threat to the public.
Investigators were seen back in place around noon Tuesday, local station WHDH reported.
Anyone with any information about the incident is asked to do so contact the North Andover Police Department.