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Baby reportedly killed by relative with power saw in Chicago

Posted at 6:40 AM, Mar 10, 2015
and last updated 2015-03-11 04:34:46-04

(CNN) — A 7-month-old girl has died after reportedly having her throat cut with a power saw in a Chicago home, authorities said.

The baby’s grandmother, 52-year-old Manuela Rodriguez, has been charged with first degree murder over the death.

Police believe Rodriguez cut the girl’s throat with the power saw because she wouldn’t stop crying, the broadcasters reported.

The woman then tried to kill herself and was found by another relative, the Chicago Tribune reported.

She suffered minor self-inflicted injuries, police told CNN. She is expected to appear in bond court on Wednesday.

An autopsy Tuesday found that the baby died of blunt force injuries to the head, with suffocation from a sock being placed in her mouth a contributing factor, WLS reported.

The infant was killed Monday in the Little Village neighborhood of Chicago.

Neighbors told WLS that a couple lived at the apartment with two grown daughters, each of whom had a young child.

“I can’t believe this,” Raul Chavez, a neighbor, told the local broadcaster. “I knew them. I knew them real good. I knew them because we would help out each other.”

Police responded to a 911 call around 9:30 a.m. Monday, CNN affiliate WGN reported.

Officers found the baby unresponsive with traumatic injuries, police told CNN. She was later declared dead.