NEWPORT NEWS, Va - The Newport News Police chief and other members of the department showed up at a Newport News neighborhood in a show of support.
They held a CARE (Community Awareness, Reconnection and Education) Walk after a mother admitted to stabbing her two children Monday, killing her baby boy and leaving her 8-year-old daughter badly injured. Sarah Ganoe was arrested and charged Monday night.
“I want to make sure that this community and the family know that we care about them, that they matter. That individuals who reside here and the kids know that they matter and the family know that she’s not just a statistic. Winter and Zell are people that we care about," said Chief Steve Drew, the chief of the Newport News Police Department.
According to Chief Drew, Ganoe’s 8-year-old is in the hospital in critical condition.
"We were able to get in and see Winter. We stayed about 15 minutes. She was heavily sedated. She had some stuffed animals around her, but I needed to put eyes on her. I needed to see her," he said.
Residents I spoke with say Thursday's CARE Walk brought them comfort to know that officers are standing with the community. Some residents even left balloons and bears in front of the Ganoe residence.
Officers and community members pray before the C.A.R.E. walk pic.twitter.com/P67jDD1b9i
— Leondra Head (@Leondrahead) May 13, 2021
“I was telling the family that a loss like this doesn’t just affect the family. It affects this community; it affects the officers that responded," Chief Drew said.
A neighbor says she was pleased to see the community come together.
“I would like to see everybody get along. I would do anything to survive a child, and what happened to them - to little children - is sad,” Charmaine Wells said.
Another of Ganoe’s children, Salem Fullerton, died unexpectedly as an infant in August 2012. Chief Drew says law enforcement will go back and look into the death.
“I’m not saying there any ties whatsoever, but I have asked them to go back and just review that. It’s always good to put second eyes on it. I just wanna go back and look.”
So far, police have not released a motive. Ganoe is being held in the Newport News City Jail.
