Charges: Mother stabbed son with pen, dragged him down the street


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WEST JORDAN — Criminal charges have been filed against a woman accused of stabbing her 7-year-old son with a pen and dragging him down a street.

Whitney Virginia Romero, 28, was charged with child abuse, a second-degree felony; assault on a police officer, a class A misdemeanor; failing to stop for police, a class A misdemeanor; and interfering with an arresting officer, a class B misdemeanor. On Friday, the case was transferred to West Jordan's 3rd District Court.

On Nov. 10, West Jordan police received multiple calls of a woman dragging her son by his shirt, which was wrapped around his neck, along 7800 South. The boy suffered several cuts and scrapes from being dragged along the sidewalk, according to police.

When officers arrived at the scene, Romero ran, according to charging documents. When police caught up with her and took her into custody, she spit on an officer then kicked the inside of his patrol car, forcing officers to put additional restraints on her, the charges state.

When the boy was later interviewed, he said Romero had been "acting scary." At one point, Romero took a piece of her own hair, lit it on fire, blew the fire out, then put the hair on the boy's chest, according to the charges. Later, she "repeatedly told him to throw up" before forcing her fingers down his throat and making him throw up, the charges state.

After wrapping her son's sweater around his neck, she began stabbing him in the neck, shoulder and back with a pen, according to court documents.

The boy kept telling her, "Mom, Mom it's me" in an attempt to get her to stop, the charges state.

Romero's next court appearance is scheduled for Dec. 3.

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Pat Reavy is a longtime police and courts reporter. He joined the KSL.com team in 2021, after many years of reporting at the Deseret News and KSL NewsRadio before that.

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