Tel Aviv Magistrate Court extends arrest of murder suspect of 6-year-old child

Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court extended the arrest of the murder suspect to last until 25 July, according to a police spokesperson's announcement on Wednesday.

The suspect, Sigal Yanna Itzkovitch, is a 33-year-old resident of Herzliya and is the mother of the victim.

According to Maariv, the suspect used to live in Modi'in, where she and her partner were widely known due to domestic violence. However, after they moved to Herzliya, the case was not transferred to the welfare department in the city.

Maariv also reported that the reason for this is that the handling of their case at the welfare department in Modi'in was stopped back in 2019, so the Herzliya municipality did not know about their past.

In the meantime, the suspect did not come to the hearing of her case at the Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court due to her medical condition and it will be held in her absence behind closed doors because it is an incident of murder in the context of domestic violence. "There is a reasonable suspicion that the crimes were committed," the judge concluded. "She allegedly brutally murdered a six-year-old minor. And also caused the death of a dog. After that, she went to the Seven Stars Mall, where she used an ax to attack and stab passers-by, including the mall guard. This is a shocking and serious case. I curb myself very much. The district psychiatrist will check the suspect's suitability for arrest, while paying attention to the investigation material that raises indications of her mental state." The mother's detention was extended by nine days.

Suspect cooperating with investigation

In her investigation, the mother is cooperating with the police investigators, answering the investigators' questions, but at this stage, no more details can be given in regard to her version. The suspect's partner testified before the police investigators, expressing shock at the very act, but at this stage there is no indication before the investigators of any threats made by the mother to harm her son.

In any case, already at the court hearing, the police will ask to send the mother for a psychiatry test as is customary in such events. The police are attributing the suspect with murder under aggravated circumstances.

While the two were together in the apartment, the mother inflicted severe injuries on her son until he lost his life and later, while in a turmoil of emotions, she left the apartment and ran towards the Seven Stars Mall, where, armed with a hatchet, she tried to harm herself and only after a confrontation with the security guard at the place who was slightly injured in the incident, and after the Yarkon region policemen arrived at the scene, was she arrested and taken for questioning.

At this point, the suspect's mother, the victim's grandmother, arrived at the apartment of the mother and her partner on Ha'halil Street in Herzliya. She entered the apartment after realizing that her daughter had been arrested and saw the scene of the crime. The grandmother was the one who called the police and large forces from the Yarkon area and the Tel Aviv district arrived at the scene and began an investigation, noting that this is a very difficult scene. "I've been in investigations for a long time and I've never seen a scene as horrible as this one. It's a serious incident, the whole apartment is covered in blood as if there had been a massacre here."

Her partner's dog was also found inside the apartment, which was also allegedly murdered by the mother. It is important to emphasize that on the face of it this is a completely normative family, unmarried couples living together in a garden apartment with their mutual son and a dog. The neighbors in the building and neighborhood told of a beautiful, well-kept young woman who took care of her son with endless devotion.

Herzliya mayor, Yariv Fisher, realized the magnitude of the event and arrived at the scene on Ha'halil Street, together with staff members and welfare officials of the municipality.

He ensured that his people searched apartment by apartment, house by house, to examine the condition of the families, when earlier he was prepared to treat the family and the affected neighbors.

"We are in a shocking incident. We are here with the whole municipality in a reinforced team and are assisting the police, who are investigating the whole incident until the end. We, as a municipality, will support the family and the community. We are with a team of psychologists and social workers, and this morning, messages also went out to parents; we will be in the schools, in the kindergartens, and at the camps, and we will be with everyone. We go door to door, knocking on every door to offer assistance. It is a complex event, and we will be here for the residents."