Westchester County mom pleads guilty to murdering 2-year-old daughter, slashing cops

ByEyewitness News WABC logo
Tuesday, September 10, 2019
Westchester County mom pleads guilty to murdering 2-year-old daughter, slashing cops
Cynthia Arce was arrested in April of 2018 after police arrived at her home in Mamaroneck and found 2-year-old Gabriella Boyd unresponsive on her bed.

MAMARONECK, Westchester County (WABC) -- A Westchester County mother pleaded guilty Thursday to murdering her 2-year-old daughter and in the attempted murder of two police officers.

Cynthia Arce was arrested in April of 2018 after police arrived at her home in Mamaroneck and found 2-year-old Gabriella Boyd unresponsive on her bed.

Officers found Arce in a nearby bedroom, where they say she had both her hands hidden behind her back and refused to comply with repeated police commands to show her hands.

Authorities say Arce then brought both hands from behind her back and above her shoulders revealing two large knives, one in each hand. She allegedly charged at the officers, repeatedly slashing at two of them.

Police say that when Tasers failed to subdue her, a third officer shot Arce, ending the confrontation.

Officers continued their efforts to resuscitate the child until paramedics arrived. She was transported to White Plains Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Arce was treated at the hospital for several weeks and then moved to jail.

Gabriella's father Stephen Boyd, along with two officers, had tried to pick up the girl the previous day for a visit, but they were denied.

Arce will serve 25 years to life in prison, with the sentence for assaulting the officers to run concurrently.

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