Texas Mother Cuts Off Baby’s Arms, Police Say

A mother cut off the arms of her baby daughter Monday, then called 911 and waited calmly until authorities arrived, police said.

Dena Schlosser, 35, was charged with murder after the girl died at a hospital in this Dallas suburb. Authorities said Schlosser had a history of postpartum depression.

Police said when they arrived at the family’s apartment they found the nearly 11-month-old baby in a bedroom with her arms severed. Schlosser, covered in blood, was sitting in her living room, police spokesman Carl Duke said.

“She wasn’t trying to hide,” Duke said.

It was not immediately clear what Schlosser used to sever the baby’s arms, police said.

Schlosser lived with other family members, including her two older daughters. The girls, ages 6 and 9, were at school and their father was at work when police arrived, Duke said.

Texas Child Protective Services had been called in January after Schlosser was seen running down the street from her apartment, with one of her daughters, then 5, bicycling after her, authorities said. When police arrived, the child told them her mother had left her 6-day-old sister alone in the apartment.

Schlosser appeared at that time to be suffering from postpartum depression and seemed to be having a psychotic episode, said Marissa Gonzales, a CPS spokeswoman.

After that incident, Schlosser was hospitalized for a few days. Her other two daughters were released to their father, who told authorities Schlosser had been acting strangely since the birth of the third child.

Once she was released from the hospital, Schlosser agreed to seek counseling and see a psychiatrist, Gonzales said.

Caseworkers visited the family through the spring and summer, and the case was closed Aug. 9.

“There were never any indications of violence with this family,” Gonzales said. “The children had always been healthy, happy and cared for.”