READING, Pa. – A woman is in the hospital after she was stabbed multiple times near a Reading playground over the weekend.
“I usually take my dog for a walk a little bit after 8:00, so I was getting him ready to come over here,” said Marcia Goodman-Hinnershitz, who lives right across from the Neversink Playground.
On Saturday night, a woman was stabbed and later found on a trail behind the playground.
“One of the neighborhood children just came screaming down the hill saying, ‘somebody’s bleeding’,” Goodman-Hinnershitz recalled. “When she said that my immediate reaction was someone’s bleeding, I need to see what I can do for first aid. I didn’t realize this is what was happening.”
She got up the hill and quickly realized it was more serious.
“There was someone that was very seriously injured and we knew right away it was a stabbing,” said Goodman-Hinnershitz.
“The victim was transported to the Reading Hospital and she had suffered approximately a dozen stab wounds,” explained Berks County District Attorney, John Adams.
Adams says authorities determined it was a domestic incident. He says an ex-boyfriend of the victim, Isaiah Dotson, stabbed the woman, before intentionally crashing his car in the 2300 block of River Road where he was apprehended.
“Whenever we have any incidents at or near any of our playgrounds it causes concern,” Adams said.
Neighbors say at the time of the incident, there were several children at the playground. Goodman-Hinnershitz says it’s been a long time since anything like this has happened in the area but now some are on edge.
“You’re going to need to help them now feel safe again here,” Goodman-Hinnershitz said.
Dotson is facing attempted homicide charges. Officials say the victim is expected to survive.