A Texas woman who allegedly attempted to drown a 3-year-old child at an Euless apartment complex pool has been charged with attempted capital murder.
On May 19, Elizabeth Wolf, 42, reportedly confronted a woman at the pool, questioning her origins and whether the two children with her belonged to her. According to the Texas Council on American-Islamic Relations, the woman, who was wearing a hijab and modest swimwear, was identified as Muslim.
Wolf proceeded to make other racial comments concerning the mother not being an American, CNN reports.
“When the mother answered her, she stated that Wolf tried to grab her 6-year-old son but he pulled away from her grasp, which caused a scratch on his finger. The mother began helping her son when Wolf grabbed her 3-year-old daughter and forced her underwater,” a news release said.
The mother pulled her daughter away as the child was yelling for help and coughing up water.
“She was like, help me! She’s killing my baby, she’s killing my baby!” resident Emma Aziz told FOX 4. “It was crazy, you know I was shaking, my son was there. Everybody was like really, really terrified,”
Euless medics arrived following a 911 call and medically cleared both children.
“We are American citizens, originally from Palestine, and I don’t know where to go to feel safe with my kids,” the mother, identified as Mrs. H, told CAIR-Texas.
“My country is facing a war, and we are facing that hate here. My daughter is traumatized; whenever I open the apartment door, she runs away and hides, telling me she is afraid the lady will come and immerse her head in the water again.”
Wolf has since been released on bail. Captain Brenda Alvarado told CNN that a $25,000 bail is the standard bond amount for an attempted capital murder charge in Texas, and the bond for the injury to a child charge is $15,000.
Meanwhile, CAIR-Texas is pushing for a hate crime charge and a higher bond amount for the defendant.
“We are seeing a new level of bigotry here where a person deeply believes they get to decide, based on religion, spoken language, and country of origin, whose kids deserve to stay alive and whose don’t. I was devastated to know that the attacker got a bail bond out of jail the next day after the arrest,” CAIR-Austin Operations Manager, Shaimaa Zayan, said.
“We ask for hate-crime probe, a higher bail bond, and an open conversation with officials to address this alarming increase in Islamophobia, anti-Arab, and anti-Palestinian sentiment.”
The case has been transferred to the Tarrant County District Attorney’s office. It is unknown at this time if Wolf has an attorney.
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[Feature Photo via Euless Police Department]
