A Wisconsin woman is facing murder charges for allegedly killing her 8-year-old son after she became enraged over the war in Ukraine.
Natalia Hitchcock, 41, was arraigned Tuesday on charge of first-degree intentional homicide in the death of her son, Oliver. She also faces a charge of attempted first-degree intentional homicide for trying to drown her 11-year-old son. Bond was set at $1 million.
The Sheboygan Falls Police Department said officers responded to the family's apartment on March 30 after Hitchcock's husband called 911.
Officers found Oliver lying on the floor where he appeared to have been strangled. He was taken to a hospital where he died two days later.
Hitchcock's husband told police that she had been drinking more lately and was prone to fits of rage. He also said she is Russian, and that he had become concerned about her mental state as she watched footage of the war in Ukraine.
According to a criminal complaint obtained by CBS 58, Hitchcock told investigators that she began to have thoughts that the Russian government was going to take her children and abuse them. She didn't think Oliver would be able to defend himself and decided to kill him rather than watch him be abused, according to the report.
Hitchcock told police she hadn't slept for the past five days and that she did not have control of her thoughts. Her plan was to apparently kill herself but since she did not want to leave her kids behind to be abused, she allegedly told police she decided to end their suffering with her own hands. Medical staff noted that Hitchcock had a "critical amount" of Tylenol in her system when she arrived at the emergency room following the incident, FOX6 reported.
Hitchcock was treated for self-inflicted wounds and was booked at the Sheboygan County Jail.
Hitchcock's 11-year-old son was not injured during the incident. However, the criminal complaint indicates that there was at least one previous occasion where she admitted to dunking the boy underneath water during a bath to scare him, WBAY reported.
If convicted as charged, Hitchcock faces life in prison.
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