A Texas woman reportedly attempted to drown a 3-year-old in an apartment complex pool in suburban Dallas after making racist remarks about the child’s mother, in a case that authorities are calling a hate crime, a police spokesperson said Monday.
Elizabeth Wolf, 42, faces charges of attempted capital murder and child injury. The child’s mother told detectives that Wolf informed her she wasn’t American, among other racial slurs, according to police.
The children’s mother, who wears a headscarf, stated in a news release issued by the Texas chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations that they are Palestinians who have become American citizens. Neither the police nor CAIR have revealed the mother’s name.
Euless police Capt. Brenda Alvarado told The Associated Press that the agency has asked Tarrant County prosecutors to treat the case as a hate crime. A spokesperson for the district attorney’s office stated Monday that the case has been received and is being reviewed.
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Police stated in a statement that when officers responded to a complaint of a disturbance between two women on May 19 in Euless, witnesses told officers that a “very intoxicated” Wolf attempted to drown a kid and clashed with the child’s mother.
The child’s mother told officers that Wolf had asked her where she was from and if the two children playing in the pool were hers. The mother informed investigators that Wolf attempted to grab the woman’s 6-year-old kid when she responded, but he resisted, putting a scratch on his finger.
According to police, Wolf seized the mother’s 3-year-old daughter and forced her underwater while she was helping her son. According to authorities, the mother dragged her kid out of the pool after she yelled for help and coughed up water.
Medical personnel examined both youngsters, who were cleared.
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Wolf has been released under bond. A call to her attorney was not returned on Monday abcnews reported
On Saturday, community leaders gathered to condemn the child’s attack and the woman’s treatment of her family.
“The trauma and pain this has caused for the immigrant community in general, and the Muslim community in particular, cannot be overstated,” said state Representative Salman Bhojani, whose district includes part of Euless.