SEBASTIAN CAPRIOTTI - 3 yo - Hollywood FL

Mirtha Arias was under orders to appear in a Pennsylvania courtroom Thursday, responding to claims she had failed to share custody of her 3-year-old son with the boy's father.

Instead, police said, Arias sliced her son's throat with a box cutter and then tried to kill herself the same way at their Hollywood apartment.

The child, Sebastian Capriotti, was in critical but stable condition late Thursday, and was able to tell police how his mother attacked him, said Lt. Scott Pardon, Hollywood police spokesman.

The mother also remained in critical but stable condition at Memorial Regional Hospital. She was charged with attempted murder.

Arias's older son, Cesar Rivera, 14, awoke at around 9 a.m. Thursday and, finding blood all over the house, called 911. Police did not describe the state of the apartment in the 6100 block of Cleveland Street, but officials say the scene was so horrific. Fire rescue workers had permission to go home or seek counseling.

Arias and her 3-year-old son were severely cut in the neck.

Homicide detectives determined Arias was despondent over the ongoing custody battle with the child's father, James Capriotti of Hazleton, Pa.

Broward court records show the mother filed for a restraining order against Capriotti in June. In her petition, Arias claimed that Capriotti traveled to Hollywood in June and insisted on taking the child back to his home state. When the mother refused, Capriotti allegedly threatened to beat her in front of witnesses at the Seminole Hard Rock Café, where the two agreed to meet.

He threatened to take the child, but the mother's witnesses intervened and she manage to drive away, according to the affidavit.

"I fear for my life and the lives of my children," she wrote.

A hearing on the restraining order was scheduled for earlier this week, but postponed until October. Capriotti
claimed through his attorney that Arias had refused to comply with a 2007 court agreement to share custody of their child. Capriotti claimed

Arias repeatedly refused to make any arrangements for him to see the boy, or have contact by phone. And when Sebastian did speak on the phone, his mother would order him to speak only in Spanish, the father said.
A judge ordered Arias to appear in court on Thursday or risk arrest, according to court records.

Capriotti and his attorney could not be reached Thursday for comment. Police were able to contact him.
Hollywood authorities said Arias and her two sons were the only people known to live in the Cleveland Street apartment.

Neighbors said there were no signs that the mother was despondent. Lucy Silva, whose son attends school with the older boy, said she saw Arias and her children playing in a kiddie pool outside the apartment last
Sunday.

"She was always with her kids," said Silva.

Some of the police and rescue workers appeared visibly shaken by the scene, said Division Chief Mark Steele of the Hollywood Fire Department.

Assistant City Manager Cathy Swanson-Rivenbark said personnel would be allowed to go home or seek counseling through the city's assistance program, Steele said.

"This is one of those that is really a time bomb," he said. "We have a lot of young men and women who see a lot of things, and they take it home. They have the option to go home after something as horrific as this."

A 911 recording has been released of a 14-year-old boy's call for
help after his mother and 3-year-old brother with their throats cut.
Meanwhile, the father of the children has traveled from out of state to
seek custody of his children. Hollywood Police said the
14-year-old son of 48-year-old Mirtha Arias found her and his little
brother, Sebastian, together inside their home, inside Apartment 3 at
6126 Cleveland Street, at around 9 Thursday morning.
Operator: "911, what's your emergency?"
Caller: "Yes, my mom is bleeding from her neck."
Operator: "Was she trying to hurt herself, do you know?"
Caller; "No, I don't think so."
Operator: "Was anyone trying to hurt her?"
Caller: "No...well, I'm the only one here."

Police said Arias cut her 3-year-old son's throat with a box cutter and then
both sides of her neck after she became despondent following a recent
court hearing involving the custody of the little boy. Both were
transported to Memorial Regional Hospital by Hollywood Fire-Rescue in
critical condition."His mom is not a bad person. She's a very,
very depressed person," said Sebastian's father Jim Capriotti. "She's
been like that many years, and I'm sure she didn't mean to do this.
Certainly I'm a loving father, and I love this boy, and I love his mom
too, as a mother, and nobody wanted this to happen. Right now what we
need is to pray for Sebastian and to pray for her."When Capriotti
heard what happened he immediately flew to Florida from Pennsylvania to
be with his son. "I'm with him right now. He's eating a popsicle, and
he's moving around as normal, and he's going to be just fine."Friday,
Capriotti appeared in court to try to get full custody of the
3-year-old. "He's just very upset that this has happened," said Kristen
Johnson, Capriotti's attorney, "and he loves and cares for his son and
wants everything to be OK, and hopes that his son will be with him
shortly."According to Capriotti, Arias is a manic-depressive.
According to Hollywood Police, the 48-year-old has been Baker Acted in
the past.A judge decided that the 14-year-old boy will go live
with his brother in Virginia. Before Capriotti can get full custody of
his 3-year-old, however, a judge said his home needed to be home-studied
before the child can go there. Complicating matters further,
the sister of Arias has also asked for custody of the 3-year-old child.

Judge Decides Custody Over Boys In Box Cutter Case

The two brothers whose mother tried to kill herself and allegedly her
youngest child will be temporarily separated, a judge ruled Friday.

The judge ruled that the oldest child should stay with out-of-town
relatives. The 3-year-old child who was injured in the incident is still
in the hospital.

According to the judge's ruling, it's likely that the child would also
be released to relatives and added that the child would likely be with a
half-sister or the child's father.

Detectives said Mirtha Arias, 48, was depressed over an ongoing custody
battle with her 3-year-old son's father. She was Baker Acted on Friday,
to undergo a psychiatric evaluation, but she will face attempted
first-degree murder charges.

Broward Court records show the mother filed for a restraining order
against the boy's father, James Capriotti of Hazleton, Pa. in June.

On Thursday, she was to appear in a Pennsylvania court regarding claims
she had failed to share custody with him. Instead, she was inside her
Hollywood apartment where police say she sliced her younger son's throat
with a box cutter and then tried to kill herself the same way.

Her 14-year-old son, Cesar Rivera, had to make the call to police when
he found both his mother and little brother suffering from severe cuts
in the neck Thursday morning.

Officers responded to the apartment at 6100 block of Cleveland Street just before 9 a.m.

"The three year-old was able to tell us that the mother did this," said Lt. Scott Pardon of the Hollywood Police Department.

The child, Sebastian Capriotti, was in critical but stable condition
late Thursday. Arias also remained in critical but stable condition.
Both are at Memorial Regional Hospital.

In the restraining order she filed in June, Arias claimed that Capriotti
traveled to Hollywood and insisted on taking Sebastian back to his home
state.

When the mother refused, Capriotti allegedly threatened to beat her in
front of witnesses at the Seminole Hard Rock Café, where the two agreed
to meet.

He threatened to take the child, but the mother's witnesses intervened
and she managed to drive away, according to the affidavit.

"I fear for my life and the lives of my children," she wrote.

A hearing on the restraining order was scheduled for earlier this week, but postponed until October.

Capriotti claimed through his attorney that Arias had refused to comply
with a 2007 court agreement to share custody of their child. Capriotti
claimed Arias repeatedly refused to make any arrangements for him to see
the boy, or have contact by phone.

And when Sebastian did speak on the phone, his mother would order him to speak only in Spanish, the father said.

A judge ordered Arias to appear in court on Thursday or risk arrest, according to court records.

A Hollywood mother who stabbed her son and then tried
to kill herself has been released from the hospital and now has been remanded to jail.

Mirtha Arias, 48, is charged with attempted murder for her actions last week. Her mug
shots show her self-inflicted wounds to the neck caused by a box
cutter. She also slit her wrists in the failed suicide attempt.

On Thursday, Arias used the same box cutter to slash her 3-year-old son's throat.
The woman was in a custody battle with the child's father, who lived in Pennsylvania.
Arias was due in court on the day she tried to kill herself and her child.

When asked by authorities what happened, the little boy said, "My mommy did this to me."
The boy is still recovering in the hospital, but is expected to make a full recovery.