Mother Accused of Ax, Knife Attack on Her Two Sons
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FOUNTAIN HILLS, Ariz. — “My mother is trying to kill me, and the house is on fire!” a 16-year-old boy told a police dispatcher, after waking to find his mother standing over him with an ax.
Beverly Sturgeon hacked son Ryan on the chest, head and arms Thursday, cut her 11-year-old son with a knife, set fire to their home and slashed her own throat and wrists, authorities said.
The boys locked themselves in a bedroom and followed the dispatcher’s order to break a window to get out of the house.
Firefighters found Sturgeon sprawled by the front door of her smoke-filled home, clutching a knife, which she swung at her rescuers. She was listed in good condition at a hospital.
Sturgeon, 45, told deputies she was despondent over her pending divorce.
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