Providence Police believe 8-year-old stabbing victim in stable condition following surgery

PROVIDENCE — An 8-year-old boy with seven stab wounds was under the care of doctors and nurses in an intensive care unit Wednesday, according to Providence police.

The Providence man accused of stabbing him on Tuesday night, 22-year-old Victor Espinal, faced three counts of domestic felony assault with a dangerous weapon and a single count of resisting arrest.

Espinal had attacked the boy with a kitchen knife inside a Reynolds Avenue home, said Providence police Maj. David Lapatin.

Espinal slashed two other relatives, a 50-year-old man and a 73-year-old woman, as they rushed to defend the child, Lapatin said.

The man eventually disarmed him and tossed the knife under a counter or a table, Lapatin said.

Police arrived to find Espinal in a bedroom, the Lapatin said. They arrested him and then provided aid to the bleeding victims, including the 8-year-old, he said.

"We're just relieved and glad to know he's resting at the hospital right now," he said.

"When we find a child of that age injured like that it's a very serious situation," Lapatin said.

Both the 50-year-old male and the 73-year-old woman sustained serious lacerations. They were in a different room from both Espinal and the child when the attack started, he said.

They heard screaming, rushed toward the commotion, saw blood, ran toward Espinal and were attacked, Lapatin said, adding that the two elder relatives of the child are recovering.

Lapatin said investigators believe that mental illness or a drug-related issue might have fueled Espinal's violence.

Providence's police chief, Col. Oscar Perez, referred to the stabbing as horrific.

"Children being hurt in our city affects all of us," he said.

Soon after Perez commented on the case, Espinal appeared before Magistrate Judge J. Patrick O'Neill in District Court, Providence.

O'Neill set Espinal's bond at $100,000, requiring him to post $10,000 in cash, or the full amount in property, to get out of jail. Online court records did not show that he had made bail.

O'Neill also issued a no-contact order.

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This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Child in Providence stabbing is stable as Victor Espinal faces charges