Police are investigating the homicide of a 10-year-old girl in Oakland.
Officers on Monday just before noon were sent to the 4500 block of Bancroft Avenue after receiving a call for a possible shooting or stabbing in the area. When officers arrived on scene, they located a knife outside a residence with blood on it.
Based on the information they had at the time and safety concerns for potential victims and residents in the area, officers forced entry into the residence and found an unresponsive girl suffering from severe trauma to her neck, police said. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene.
“When officers arrived, they didn’t see any evidence of a shooting, but they did locate a knife outside the residence, with blood on it,” said Darren Allison of the Oakland Police Department.
They also found her mother in the home hurting herself with another knife.
“The mother killed her. The mom’s in the hospital. I’ve got the real father standing here with his family member,” said Oakland Councilmember Noel Gallo.
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The girl’s father was at the crime scene as soon as he heard about the incident and was talking to detectives.
His parents lived in the apartment below his daughter and his ex-wife and remained there even after dad left the apartments two years ago.
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Gallo said the mom was troubled with a mental disorder and police had responded to calls to help her in the past. But there was never violence like this before, according to police.
“As a parent, I know that there’s nothing more that tears at the heart than the loss of a child,” said Allison.
Neighbors said they couldn’t find words to describe the senseless loss of an innocent young life.
“Extremely sad, I can’t believe this is happening in the streets here of Oakland, that I grew up in here in east Oakland,” said Gallo.
The mother was listed in critical condition at an Oakland hospital.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Oakland police homicide unit at 510-238-3821.
