AUSTINTOWN Grandma, mom face judge in stabbing case

The victim is in stable condition at an Akron hospital.
By IAN HILL
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
AUSTINTOWN -- A Westchester Drive woman accused of stabbing her 7-year-old granddaughter three times was to be arraigned this morning in Mahoning County Court.
Mildred Battles, 74, was arrested at her apartment Wednesday morning and charged with attempted murder and felonious assault. She is accused of stabbing Zabrina Battles three times in the chest about 8 p.m. Friday at the apartment they shared.
Zabrina is in stable condition at Children's Hospital Medical Center in Akron.
Her mother, Zipporah Coates, 37, of the same address, was also arrested Wednesday on charges of felony child endangerment and is set to be arraigned this morning.
Both were in Mahoning County Jail overnight.
Officers said that Mildred Battles struggled as she was handcuffed and that she screamed the devil was responsible for her arrest and the devil was going to kill police.
Knife in stuffed horse
Police said Zabrina was stabbed with a kitchen knife that officers found lodged in a stuffed horse. The bloodstained blade of the knife was sticking out about 3 inches from the horse's back. The knife handle was wedged completely inside the toy.
Detective Sgt. Ray Holmes said Zabrina was holding the toy when she was stabbed. He said Mildred Battles was the only other person in the room at the time, and the stabbing wasn't accidental.
Holmes also noted that Coates seemed to implicate Mildred Battles in a 911 call after the stabbing.
Evidence also was obtained during an interview with Zabrina in the hospital, Holmes said. He wouldn't say what Zabrina discussed.
Zabrina's stepfather, Eugene F. Coates, told police he was playing a video game when he heard the girl screaming. He said he then saw her standing at the top of the stairs bleeding.
The stepfather said he went into the girl's bedroom and saw the knife sticking out of the horse. Zabrina then collapsed, he said.
Reports state that when police arrived, Zipporah said: "You white people did this to her. You put the knife there. You made her stab herself."
Mildred Battles told The Vindicator that Zabrina was playing with the stuffed horse on her bed. Battles quoted her granddaughter as saying, "Grandma, there's a knife inside."
Zabrina then took a few steps and collapsed, Battles told the newspaper. She said that she bought the toy several years ago and that Zabrina often played with it. Battles said the knife couldn't have been inside the toy very long and wondered how it got there.
'Devil' comments
Police reports state that Battles told officers that the devil was responsible for the stabbing, and that "the devil tells little children to do things like that." She also told police that Zipporah was responsible for the stabbing and that "the devil had to have told her to do it."
Police invoked a state law Tuesday allowing the Mahoning County Children Services Board to take custody of Zabrina at the hospital. A court hearing will be held within 30 days to determine custody.