A woman has been formally charged with murder and two counts of attempted murder following the death of her five-year-old son and the stabbing of his two younger siblings in the NSW Blue Mountains on Sunday afternoon.
The 42-year-old was charged in a bedside hearing at Westmead Hospital on Tuesday, where she was being treated for stab wounds police allege were self-inflicted. The charges include domestic violence-related murder and two counts of domestic violence-related wounding or grievous bodily harm with intent to murder.
Emergency services were called to Waratah Road at Valley Heights, near Springwood, about 12:45pm on Sunday after walkers discovered the group of four in a parked car. The five-year-old boy was found deceased at the scene, while two younger children, aged one and three, were found with stab wounds and taken to Westmead Children's Hospital, where they remain in a critical but stable condition.
NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Peter McKenna said the woman is the mother of all three children and is a suspect. The location appeared 'random', he said, and the woman was not previously known to police. He also said the father was supporting his two children in hospital.
The woman was refused bail and is due to appear at Penrith Local Court on Friday, November 20.
The incident was one of four alleged domestic violence-related deaths across NSW within just over 24 hours. Police earlier reported two women, aged 90 and 23, were fatally stabbed in separate incidents at Bondi Beach and Kooringal in Wagga Wagga, and a third woman, aged 70, was found dead at a property in the state's Northern Tablelands.
Deputy Commissioner McKenna described the weekend as 'horrific', while police issued an urgent plea for those experiencing domestic violence to seek help.