COLTON, Calif. – The Latest on a California woman suspected of family stabbings that killed an infant granddaughter (all times local):
6:05 p.m.
Court documents show a California woman suspected of fatally stabbing her 18-month-old granddaughter had spent nearly a decade in a state psychiatric hospital and outpatient treatment program before a jury ruled in 2015 that her sanity had been restored.
The records obtained Tuesday indicate that Nicole Darrington-Clark was found not guilty by reason of insanity in the 2005 attempted murder of her daughter and an older son.
Darrington-Clark was sent to the psychiatric hospital and later transferred to an outpatient program. A jury ruled in 2015 that her sanity was restored.
Dr. Elyn Saks, a professor at the University of Southern California, says making that ruling requires the person to understand right and wrong and prove they are not a danger to themselves or others.
Darrington-Clark was arrested Tuesday in San Bernardino for investigation of killing her granddaughter and wounding her other granddaughter and daughter. It isn't clear if she has an attorney to comment on the allegations.
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1:21 p.m.
Relatives say a Southern California woman suspected of fatally stabbing her 18-month-old granddaughter became distraught late last year after she was separated from her young son.
LaShunda Clark says her sister Nicole Darrington-Clark had gone Monday to visit her adult daughter and granddaughters at their home in Colton.
She did not know what triggered Monday's attack, but she says her sister had long suffered mental health issues.
A message was left seeking comment from social services officials in Riverside County, where LaShunda Clark says her sister had since returned to live with her husband and son.
Darrington-Clark was arrested Tuesday for investigation of killing her granddaughter and wounding her other granddaughter and daughter. She was sent to a state psychiatric hospital after a judge found her not guilty by reason of insanity in the 2005 attempted murder of her daughter and an older son.
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9:20 a.m.
Authorities have identified the victim of a fatal stabbing in Southern California as an 18-month-old Damani Trouter.
The San Bernardino County coroner's division released the girl's identity Tuesday.
Police say the suspect in the attack is Damani's 43-year-old grandmother, Nicole Darrington-Clark.
Darrington-Clark has been arrested for investigation of fatally stabbing the girl and wounding another as well as her daughter in Monday's attack.
In an earlier case, Darrington-Clark was sent to a state mental hospital after a judge found her not guilty by reason of insanity in the 2005 attempted murder of her own children.
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7:47 a.m.
An attorney who previously represented a Southern California woman who is now suspected of fatally stabbing her granddaughter says the case is one of the greatest sadnesses of his career.
Lawyer Robert Sheahen said Tuesday that Nicole Darrington-Clark came from a lovely family and was diagnosed with schizophrenia in an earlier case in Los Angeles Superior Court.
Sheahen says the judge and district attorney agreed she should be sent to a state hospital at that time. He says he has not heard from her since.
In the 2005 case, she pleaded guilty to stabbing her son and throwing her daughter out of a moving minivan but the judge found her insane.
Police in Colton, California say Darrington-Clark is suspected of killing one granddaughter and wounding another as well as her own daughter in an attack on Monday.
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6:25 a.m.
A Southern California woman suspected of fatally stabbing a granddaughter and wounding another as well as her own daughter has been arrested.
The Colton Police Department has posted a tweet saying Nicole Darrington-Clark was taken into custody early Tuesday.
No details of the arrest were given, but the department adds in a second tweet that a press release will be issued.
A telephone message seeking further details was left at a number for the Colton police public information officer.
Police were called to a residence Monday morning by a hysterical woman who said her mother had just stabbed her and her two children.
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A 43-year-old Southern California woman who once was found not guilty by reason of insanity to the attempted murder of her own children is now suspected of stabbing her daughter and two granddaughters.
Colton police are looking for Nicole Darrington-Clark, the suspect in the attack that killed her 1-year-old granddaughter and critically injured her daughter and 5-year-old granddaughter.
After the attack, Darrington-Clark fled the apartment she shared with the victims.
In 2005, she pleaded guilty to stabbing her 14-year-old son and throwing her 10-year-old daughter out of a moving minivan. Neither child was seriously injured.
But a judge found Darrington-Clark not guilty by reason of insanity and sent her to a mental hospital. A friend says she was released a few years ago.
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