AUSTINTOWN Girl's stab wound prompts probe

One account indicates that a knife was inside a stuffed animal.
By ROGER G. SMITH
CITY HALL REPORTER
AUSTINTOWN -- A 7-year-old girl, a stuffed animal and a knife somehow came together to cause a critical stab wound.
The way that happened remains unclear, but Police Chief Gordon Ellis said it's the most unusual scene he's been involved with in 20 years of police work.
Zabrina Battles, 7, was in the intensive care unit Saturday evening at Children's Hospital Medical Center of Akron with a stab wound to her chest.
Police were called to an apartment at 4874 Westchester Drive just before 8 p.m. Friday. The girl was flown to Akron on Saturday after surgery at St. Elizabeth Health Center in Youngstown, where she had been in critical condition.
Ellis said Saturday evening that police have many more questions than answers.
He confirmed that a knife and a stuffed animal were involved. Ellis said he had "never seen a scene like that," but declined to describe it.
Police aren't yet sure what happened, Ellis said. Investigators weren't able to speak with Zabrina, he said. Police are confident they'll eventually sort out what happened, he said.
He said crime scene investigators had been at the apartment. But he would not comment on a list of topics such as whether there are suspects, if a playmate or adult is involved or if it was an accident or self-inflicted.
'There's a knife inside'
A woman at the Westchester address identified herself as Mildred Battles and said she is Zabrina's grandmother. She said a knife apparently was inside the stuffed animal.
She gave this account Saturday afternoon: Zabrina was playing with the stuffed horse on a bed. The girl said, "Grandma, there's a knife inside." The woman turned and watched the girl take a few steps and collapse.
The woman said she bought the stuffed animal for Zabrina several years ago and that the girl often played with the toy. She said a knife couldn't have been inside the toy long and wondered how it would get there.
"This should have never happened," she said.
The woman said Zabrina is a pupil at Watson Elementary and gets good grades.
rgsmith@vindy.com