A babysitter has been charged with f@tally st@bbing a 3-year-old girl in Las Vegas while her father was at work.
On Wednesday, March 26 at approximately 3:36 a.m. local time, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police (LVMPD) “responded to a stabbing incident in the 4200 block of Channel 10 Drive,” police stated in a release.
“Arriving officers located a female juvenile suffering from apparent stab wounds inside of an apartment. Officers provided life-saving measures until medical personnel arrived. The juvenile was transported to a local hospital where she was later pronounced deceased,” the statement added.
Police identified the suspect as Marketta Phillips, 41, and said that she had been “located near the scene and taken into custody.”
The Clark County Office of the Coroner/Medical Examiner identified the victim as Journei Ross, 3, adding that her cause of de@th was “multiple stab wounds.”
“Through the course of investigation homicide detectives learned Phillips was babysitting the victim while the father was at work,” the police release continued. “At some point, Phillips stabbed the victim and then fled the area when the father arrived from work.”
The suspect was booked into the Clark County Detention Center for Open Murder with a Deadly Weapon, police said. She had her first court appearance on Thursday, March 27.
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The victim’s father had found the suspect “covered in blood surrounded by multiple knives on the kitchen floor” when he returned home from work, citing an arrest report.
The father allegedly had an on-and-off relationship with Phillips, and she told police she had been living at the apartment for the past year, the report noted, according to the station.
Police discovered three sheets of paper at the scene with notes written with red marker, which read, “See what happens when you [mess] with people’s lives,” and “Now we both have nothing,” KVVU reported.
Recounting the tragic evening to reporters, Ross told WTNV that he’d been at work on the night of March 25 while Phillips watched his daughter, which she had done “numerous times” before. When he arrived home after 3 a.m. the next morning, he noticed that Phillips had blood on her arms and then immediately went to check on his daughter.
In a harrowing 911 call obtained by CBS affiliate KLAS, Ross can be heard crying, “You killed my [expletive] child!” and “My baby is not breathing. My baby just bled all over the goddamn bed. What the f**k did you do?”
Ross told KTNV that he had been living with Phillips for a year. He told the station, “I didn’t know she was a crazy case, you know?”
Ross shared custody of Journei with Whitson, who told reporters that she had never met Phillips before seeing her in the courtroom on Thursday, March 27.
Whitson said, “I didn’t know this woman. Today was literally the first day I’ve ever seen this woman in my life. This is crazy, she took my baby.”
Phillips is being held at Clark County Detention Center without bail. Her next court appearance is scheduled for April 1.
