Police: Mom used kitchen knife to decapitate 7-year-old son

Authorities say a woman used a “large-bladed kitchen knife” to sever the head of her 7-year-old son in rural western New York.

Police arrested 36-year-old Hanane Mouhib after Abraham Cardenas was found dead Thursday night in a home in the town of Sweden, about 15 miles (24 kilometers) west of Rochester. She was charged with second-degree murder.

Court papers say Mouhib used the knife to stab the boy in the upper back then cut his neck, severing his head.

Police were responding to a call about a suicidal person with a knife.

Mouhib is being held in the county jail without bail. She had not been assigned a public defender at midday Friday.