Woman charged with attempted murder in Elkton double stabbing

Investigators identified the suspect as Raja Renee Smith, 31, of Newark, Del.

The two stabbing victims arrived at Christiana Hospital in Delaware in critical condition, court records show. As of Tuesday, information regarding their medical conditions was unavailable.

Elkton Police Department officers responded to the residence in the 100 block of Locust Lane at approximately 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, after the son of the woman who was stabbed witnessed the incident and called 911, according to court records.

When officers arrived, they saw a man — later identified as Smith’s father — in a living room chair, holding his hand over a neck wound that was bleeding profusely, police reported. Officers also saw a woman who, they later learned, had suffered three stab wounds, police said. She was sitting on top of Smith on the living room floor, as was another woman, police added.

“She stated, ‘Restrain her. She is the stabber!’” court records show.

Officers pulled the women off of Smith, before handcuffing and arresting her, police reported.

A Cecil County Sheriff’s Office deputy drove the wounded man to ChristianaCare’s Union Hospital in Elkton in his patrol vehicle “due to the serious nature” of his injury, police said. After paramedics arrived and performed triage, police added, an ambulance crew drove the wounded woman to Christiana Hospital in Delaware, police added.

“Her condition appeared to be worsening. Her breathing became more labored and she was becoming less coherent, almost like she was going to lose consciousness,” according to court records, which indicate that officers noticed a deep wound above her right collarbone and also a large blood stain on the left side of her shirt.

The woman who suffered the stab wounds told investigators that she was upstairs at approximately 11:30 a.m., when she heard Smith arrive at her residence and someone let her into the dwelling, police said. Her son went downstairs to see what Smith wanted and then she “heard the altercation,” police added.

“She went downstairs and saw (the male victim), who was still fighting with Smith. She then took Smith to the floor and kept her there until the police arrived,” according to court records. While subduing Smith, the female victim told a woman who was helping her that Smith “cut me, I’m gonna bleed out, she stabbed me,” court records allege.

During a police interview, after waiving her right to remain silent, Smith told an EPD detective that she went to the Locust Lane residence earlier that morning, after finding court documents in her mailbox, according to court records. Smith told the investigator that she is homeless and lives in her vehicle or at motels, court records show. The charging document doesn’t detail the content of the court documents that Smith found inside her mailbox.

“The documents enraged Smith, who blamed her father for the cause of her hardships and traveled to Locust Lane to confront her father. Smith went to her father’s residence with the intent of ‘making sure my father was no longer a threat’ . . . Smith entered the residence and admitted to engaging in a verbal confrontation with her father, which turned into a physical confrontation,” according to the charging document, which does not specify what, if any, relationship the female victim has with Smith. (EPD officials could not be reached Monday for additional information.)

Investigators found what they believe to be the knife used in the stabbings on a table in the residence, police reported.

Smith is facing 10 criminal charges, including two counts each of attempted first-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder, first-degree assault and reckless endangerment, according to court records. Smith remained in the Cecil County Detention Center on Tuesday, one day after her bail review hearing, court records show.