‘Mentally ill’ man slits throat of girl in Zamboanga City

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – A man suspected to be suffering from mental illness killed a two-year-old girl here by slitting her throat, the police said Thursday.

Insp. Edgardo Domingo, chief of the Vitali district police, said the killing happened in an interior road in Sitio Toctobo around 3 p.m.Wednesday.

The suspect, identified as Albert Legaspi, was arrested after committing the crime, Domingo said.

Domingo said the police got a call from a concerned citizen that a man, armed with a knife, was trying to kill a girl in Toctobo.

He said they immediately sent men to the area and found the girl, later identified as Precious Midel, lying on the pavement and was bloodied.

Domingo said they rushed the girl to a hospital but she died soon after.

Chief Insp. Joel Tuttuh, spokesperson of the Zamboanga City Police Office (ZCPO), said the suspect could be suffering from mental illness and it appeared that he randomly picked the girl.

It was not clear, however, how the suspect was able to snatch the girl without the parents’ knowledge.

“He is currently detained at the Police Station 1 in Vitali. We are preparing charges against him,” Tuttuh said.  SFM