Crime & Safety
NJ Woman Who Heard Voices Tell Her To Stab Brother Held Pending Competency Evaluation
The Brick Township woman told detectives she heard voices tell her to stab the 2-year-old, an affidavit said.
TOMS RIVER, NJ — A competency evaluation has been ordered for a Brick Township woman who told detectives she stabbed her 2-year-old brother because she heard voices telling her to do so.
Marlene Rodriguez, 20, appeared before Ocean County Superior Court Judge David M. Fritch on Friday for a detention hearing in the case.
She is charged with attempted murder, unlawful possession of a weapon, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, and endangering the welfare of a child in the stabbing that happened shortly before 2:30 p.m. Nov. 1 at a home on Burke Lane.
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The toddler, who was conscious and alert when police answered the 911 call, suffered a stab wound to his chest that caused a punctured lung and a puncture to the wall of his heart. He remains stable at Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, authorities have said.
The detention hearing, which will determine whether Rodriguez is held until trial, was adjourned to Nov. 17, but in the meantime Fritch granted a motion requesting an evaluation to determine whether Rodriguez is mentally fit to stand trial.
Find out what's happening in Brickfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
In court proceedings Friday morning, Rodriguez answered Fritch's questions but said little.
According to the probable cause affidavit, Rodriguez told detectives she had heard voices telling her to stab her brother. She told the detectives the voices were of a family she knows, and that when she hears them, "she visually sees what she needs to do," the affidavit said.
When detectives asked Rodriguez if she knew what she did was wrong, "she replied (in Spanish) words to the effect of a third person telling her to stop talking so she doesn't go to jail," the detective wrote in the affidavit.
The affidavit said a cousin told authorities that Rodriguez had asked her earlier in the day, before the stabbing, if the cousin had ever sacrificed another human being.
In addition to the detention hearing, Rodriguez is scheduled for a court appearance before Judge Kenneth Palmer on Dec. 15, Fritch said.
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