Man Allegedly Killed His 18-Month-Old Daughter, Says ‘God Told Him To’
A New Orleans man allegedly killed his 18-month-old daughter and told police that God instructed him to commit the gruesome crime.
Mark Hambrick allegedly told police that he stabbed his young daughter, Amina, repeatedly in the heart with a serrated kitchen knife and waited for her to die before turning himself over to the authorities. Hambrick said the girl continued to cry in his arms and forced him to resort to suffocating her to death.
According to Fox News, the 45-year-old man said it was God’s grand design to use the crime and resurrect him after his death sentence by the state of Louisiana. Hambrick, who worked as an internal audit analyst for the Sewage and Water Board, called 911 around 7 in the morning to say he had killed his daughter, according to reports. He was waiting for the police on his front porch when they arrived.
Despite his outlandish reasons for purportedly murdering his 18-month-old daughter, the 45-year-old man allegedly admitted that he knew he had committed an atrocity. Authorities say Mark Hambrick had told police he killed his daughter to put her out of her misery.
Amina was found with multiple stab wounds to the chest and could not be revived. A murder weapon was retrieved at the scene.
Police are investigating whether Hambrick had a history of substance abuse problems or mental illness.
Mugshot of Mark Hambrick, who told police he stabbed and suffocated his 18-month-old daughter this morning. Story: https://t.co/SHQgCRvN9T pic.twitter.com/QrzJ0Ihd50
— New Orleans Advocate (@theadvocateno) October 17, 2017
A shocked neighbor speaking to Nola said Hambrick lived with his wife and young daughter, adding that they were a happy family that he had known for years. Another neighbor recalled Amina as a “sweet” little girl who had only recently learned to walk and babble.
The mother of the child, Monika Gerhart-Hambrick was working when the tragic incident occurred. Gerhart-Hambrick, a staff of Baton Rouge Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome, was confirmed to be trying to understand the “unimaginable situation.” A statement from Broome’s office emphasized a show of support for the distraught mother.
NOPD: Mark Hambrick called 911 after he said he killed his daughter, later describing the 'heinous, gruesome' act .. https://t.co/75GMbSbZPQ pic.twitter.com/SwRDxxwwEJ
— New Orleans Advocate (@theadvocateno) October 17, 2017
“This is a horrible tragedy. No parent should ever lose a child, especially in such a violent way. We are here for Monika”
Mark Hambrick does not appear to have a criminal record in Orleans Parish. He has been booked on a single count of second-degree murder and another count of second-degree cruelty to a juvenile.
[Featured Image by EvgeniiAnd/Thinkstock]
