‘Voices in her head’: Remand extended for mother suspected of killing 6-year-old son
Sigal Yana Itzkovich, 33, to undergo psychological assessment; neighbors say she was pleasant, caring of boy; father reportedly informed of incident while in army reserves
A court on Wednesday extended by nine days the remand of a woman suspected of murdering her six-year-old son the previous day, before wandering the streets of Herzliya wielding an axe and attacking passersby and a security guard who finally restrained her.
The Tel Aviv District Court ordered that Sigal Yana Itzkovich, 33, undergo a psychological assessment.
“This is a serious and shocking case,” Justice Ravit Peleg Bar Dayan said at the hearing. “The investigative material raises indications of her mental state.”
A district psychiatrist is to examine Itzkovich, and police also asked that she undergo a toxicology test to determine if she was under the influence of narcotics.
The Walla outlet reported that Itzkovich’s defense lawyer will seek that she also be assessed for her ability to stand trial.
According to the outlet, the father was serving in the army reserves on the border with the Gaza Strip when he was informed of his son’s death. He was later attended to by medics and Herzliya welfare services.
The judge noted that in addition to the suspected homicide of her son, Itzkovich is thought to have killed the family dog, which was found stabbed to death in her home alongside the body of her son. She is also suspected of trying to attack people in the streets, as well as the security guard at the mall, who was lightly injured as he grappled with the axe-wielding Itzkovich.
Itzkovich was not at the hearing as she is currently hospitalized.
The homicide happened on Halil Street in the Galil Yam neighborhood of Herzliya.
Neighbors told Hebrew media outlets that Itzkovich was a quiet, pleasant woman who seemed very loving and caring of her son.
Reports said the family was not known to welfare services, although there had been an incident of violence between the couple in the past that was dealt with at the time.
A source described as acquainted with Itzkovich told Channel 12 that she had recently suffered emotional distress but did not reveal what was troubling her.
The source recalled Itzkovich had said that “she hears all kinds of voices in her head and strange things.” Itzkovich recently became more spiritual, engaging in yoga and meditation, he said.
הרצליה קניון שבעת הכוכבים:
אישה כנראה בהתקף פסיכוטי רדפה אחר מאבטח עם גרזן, דקרה אותו, לאחר מכן הלכה לכניסה לקניון התפשטה עשתה מדיטציה ודקרה את עצמה בחזה.. pic.twitter.com/afXN3ynCko— מה חדש. What's new❓ (@Gloz111) July 16, 2024
Chief Superintendent Adi Berkovich, of the Israel Police’s Yarkon District Investigations Division, told Channel 12 that “all avenues are being investigated.”
“At this stage, she is speaking sensibly and understands what she did,” Berkovich said. “She is cooperative at this point, but won’t offer the motive or what caused it.”
The body of the child was discovered in the home in Herzliya by his grandmother on Tuesday evening.
חקירת האירוע חשד לרצח ילד בן 6 בהרצליה עדכון
מעצרה של החשודה ברצח, בת 33, תושבת הרצליה, הוארך היום על ידי בית משפט השלום בתל אביב עד לתאריך 25/7/24. pic.twitter.com/jCfPnRYTOm
— כל החדשות בזמן אמת ???? (@Saher95755738) July 17, 2024
In a video disseminated on social media, Itzkovich can be seen walking toward the entrance of the mall while holding an axe and intermittently grinning. She is barefoot, and her face and legs are streaked with blood.
She approaches the security guard at the mall and begins attacking him with the axe, but he manages to wrest the axe away from her and call for backup.
Police said they quickly arrived at the scene and arrested the woman. The security guard was lightly wounded, police said.
Other videos circulating online showed Itzkovich attempting to attack other passersby on her way to the mall. It is not clear if any of them were injured.
Authorities have refuted rumors that Itzkovich was a survivor of the Supernova music massacre, where invading terrorists led by Hamas killed 364 people on October 7, amid the Palestinian terror group’s devastating attack on Israel that caused the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.
