Philadelphia teen charged with attempted murder of 7-year-old sister
PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania -- A teenager is in custody after his 7-year-old sister was found unresponsive with a bag over her face in the Olney section of Philadelphia, police say.
Simere Alford, 18, has been charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault, and related offenses. Authorities say it appears he attempted to strangle or suffocate his younger sister, who remains on life support.
Alford was arrested after being found in the backseat of a police car at the 35th District headquarters. Police say he used an unlocked door to enter the vehicle, where Alford allegedly told police he "did something stupid."
It was around 1 a.m. Wednesday when police were called to the home on the 5500 block of North American Street. Alford's mother told arriving officers that her son had taken off with her car and that he was high and had been smoking synthetic marijuana.
With police at the home, the woman's 14-year-old son told her that his 7-year-old sister was missing from her bed.
"They began a frantic search of the house," Philadelphia police Captain Mark Burgmann said. "The mother went into the house at that point in time. She found her 7-year-old daughter unconscious on the floor."
Authorities say the woman discovered her daughter with a bag over her face in the basement of the home.
The girl was not breathing, and the woman ran out of the house with her daughter in her arms. Officers immediately performed CPR on the girl as her mother paced back and forth.
"She was walking, walking around," neighbor Rayonna Beckett said. "She didn't know what to do."
The officer called for backup and continued to perform CPR in the back of a police cruiser as they rushed to Albert Einstein Medical Center.
The girl was admitted to the hospital in extremely critical condition. She was transferred to St. Christopher's Hospital for Children, where she is on life support. Her father tells sister station WPVI that she is brain dead.
Chief Inspector Scott Small said the vehicle that was reported stolen, that had initially brought police to the home, was recovered a short time later at 3rd and Champlost streets, a few blocks from the home.
Police say the vehicle crashed into other cars, and the 18-year-old ran off.
Hours later, Alford turned up at the 35th police district.
"We were unable to locate her son until 11:20 a.m., when he was located in the back of a police car, locked himself in the back of police car," Burgmann said.
Neighbors were stunned about what happened.
"She was beautiful, smart, intelligent, active," neighbor Kathy Gonzales said. "She played with all of the little boys and all the kids on the block. She knocked on the doors and said, 'Could you come out and play with me?'"
