Six-year-old girl stabbed to death

Waukegan police said Monday night they were questioning a woman in connection with the stabbing death of a child.

Evelyn Vasquez, 6, was dead from stab wounds when paramedics arrived around 5 a.m. at the apartment on Hickory Hills Drive where she lived, police said.

The girl had been stabbed 11 times, Deputy Police Chief Daniel Greathouse said, and the most likely fatal wound was to her neck.

Other wounds were inflicted to the girl's head, chest and arms, Greathouse said, although the neck wound is believed to be the first injury the girl suffered.

Police arrived at the scene to find a 25-year-old woman suffering from what they described as superficial wounds to her arms and wrists, Greathouse said.

Police found what Greathouse described as a "large butcher knife" in the room where both the girl and the woman were in when officers arrived.

The woman, who was treated at the scene and released to police custody, was being "very cooperative" with investigators, Greathouse said.

He said the girl, who was born in Denver and has lived in the Waukegan area for about two years, was a student at Spaulding School in Waukegan.

"People at the school described her as a bright, happy, loving child," Greathouse said.

There were indications the girl fought back when she was attacked, Greathouse said, although he declined to go into detail.

He said the woman being questioned was unlikely to be released from police custody until the case is reviewed by the state's attorney's office.

Greathouse said it was possible charges could be filed against the woman as early as today and, based on what investigators knew Monday night, he believed the charges would be first-degree murder.