A 35-year-old mother is said to have stabbed her nine-month-old son to death and then taken her own life in a house in North Andover on Monday. Investigators are calling it an “apparent murder-suicide.”
The development Tuesday afternoon comes as authorities continue to investigate the “unimaginable crime” at the home on Turnpike Street in Merrimack Valley.
Essex County District Attorney Paul Tucker and North Andover Police Chief Charles Gray identified the deceased as Jennifer T. Paez, 35, and her nine-month-old son, Valentino Paez.
“While everyone is understandably still struggling to comprehend what went so terribly wrong here, our deepest condolences go out to the family of Jennifer Paez and her son Valentino,” Tucker said in a press release. “I also want to thank the North Andover Police Department, the Massachusetts State Police and all of the responders who assisted this family and this community in the wake of this unimaginable crime.”
North Andover police responded to a 911 call at 5:15 p.m. Monday and found the mother and her young son with “obvious knife wounds,” authorities said.
Jennifer was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident, it was said, while Valentino was taken by ambulance to Lawrence General Hospital, where medical staff pronounced the boy dead at around 6:30 p.m.
“Initial evidence” in the investigation suggested that “Jennifer injured her son and then took her own life,” the press release said.
“I would like to thank the hard-working officers of the North Andover Police Department who responded to this tragic incident,” Gray said in the release, “as well as our partners at the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, Massachusetts State Police, Andover Police Department, North Andover Fire Department, North Andover Community Support Coordinator and Lawrence General Hospital for their support.”
Paez suffers from a “long history” of mental health problems, WBZ reported, citing Lawrence District Court documents describing incidents between 2018 and 2022. Two cases are still open, according to a court clerk.
The most recent incident reported by WBZ occurred when police responded to a 911 call from Paez’s sister. Upon arrival, officers found that Paez was allegedly requesting a DNA test because she increasingly believed she was not her mother’s biological daughter.
“Paez’s sister told police Paez suffers from bipolar disorder and is not taking her medication. She said Paez’s behavior has become more erratic and aggressive … and both (sister) and (mother) are afraid of Paez,” WBZ reported, citing a police report.
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