Infant stabbing raises questions

After reading about the woman who stabbed her 8-month-old child in a Baltimore social services office, I was shocked that there were no immediate charges on the woman ("Mother stabs daughter, 8 months," April 25).

There is no excuse to stab a helpless infant. There was a social worker in the room to witness the event. It appears to that details about the mental health of the mother may have been left out. The article says she had become "irate" and then stabbed her child. An 8-month-old child should not enrage a mother enough to cause her to stab them. Because the mother was able to sneak a knife into the social services building in the first place it appears that the stabbing was pre-meditated. All of these details are a little confusing and more background of the mother and child should have been included.

I was also surprised that the mother was able to get into the building with a knife and no identification. According to the article, the violence was "extraordinarily uncommon," which I assume is what contributed to the lack of security. I hope to see a follow-up article dealing with the security breach. It says the guards do not search everyone who enters and perhaps they decided not to check her due to the fact that she was a young woman. I would be interested in hearing what happens with this case.

Melissa Conner, Chestertown