A New Jersey woman is on trial for throwing another woman’s 5-year-old child in front of an oncoming train in what she claims was an attempted “human sacrifice.”
Autumn N. Matacchiera, 20, threw the stranger’s young daughter on the tracks in front of a speeding train. Fortunately, the stranger’s boyfriend leapt onto the tracks and saved the girl as police officers who witnessed the ordeal jumped in front of the train and signaled for it to stop. Matacchiera pleaded not guilty based on insanity in court Tuesday, New York Daily News reported.
Matacchiera reportedly said she needed to sacrifice a human life in order to restore her relationship with an estranged relative.
“I didn’t think it was anything bad,” she said in court. “Now, I kind of regret it. People tell me that sacrificing a human isn’t the same as sacrificing the animal.”
Matacchiera’s mother told reporters that Autumn had a long history of mental health issues and insisted that her daughter was “not a criminal.” Matachierra has been in and out of mental health facilities for the last six years, as institutions have repeatedly released her despite her family’s protest.
“We as parents are thankful she’s okay,” her mother told NJ.com. “She’s not a criminal. She has mental health issues. It’s an ongoing problem.”
Matacchiera will remain at the Lourdes Medical Center of Burlington County for the duration of her court proceedings. The young girl escaped the ordeal with only scrapes and bruises.
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