PHOENIX (AP) - A suspect has been arrested in the stabbing deaths of a woman and two children in a Phoenix apartment last month, police said Wednesday.
They said 28-year-old Mulu Yeman Merach is jailed on suspicion of three counts of first-degree murder. A possible motive hasn’t been released by police and it was also unclear Wednesday if Merach has a lawyer yet.
Officers responded to a call of a possible stabbing on June 28 and found the bodies of 19-year-old Abraha Danait, 7-year-old Meadn Meles-Hebtom and 9-year-old Arsema Kidane.
The mother of the boy and girl had returned home to discover the bodies and called for help, according to authorities who said Danait was a family relative.
Merach was described as a cousin of the victims and might have been living with the Eritrean immigrant family.
Police said Merach was found injured at the scene and taken to a hospital in critical condition.
He was originally considered a victim of the stabbings, but detectives developed probable cause to charge him and Merach was arrested on a grand jury warrant upon his hospital release Tuesday.
Merach is being held on a secured appearance bond of $3 million pending a July 16 arraignment.
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