The mom of a teen charged with attempted murder after a six-year-old boy was stabbed in downtown Halifax says she has tried “desperately for years to get her the help she needs.”
Andrea Hancock took to social media on Monday, writing that her daughter, Elliott Chorny, “is a severely unwell person” and needs treatment.
While the mom said she loves her daughter “deeply,” she added that “due to her unchecked mental health, I haven’t known her for a long time.”
The family has attempted to get treatment for Chorny, the mom said in the Facebook post.
“Unfortunately, in Nova Scotia, you can’t force someone to take medication against their will, they can’t be committed anymore apparently and (despite) trying everything, Elliott did not get the help that she needed,” said Hancock, adding a little boy has allegedly suffered needlessly “despite our efforts to try and protect the community.”
Hancock said that Chorny didn’t know the boy she allegedly stabbed repeatedly around 1:20 p.m. Sunday near a bus stop close to the Scotia Square mall in the city’s downtown core. Police have also said the accused and victim did not know each other.
The young stabbing victim was taken to hospital in what police called life-threatening condition. Police did not provide an update on his status early Tuesday.
“She didn’t know the child and from what information I received, the poor child just happened to be around Elliott while she was having a psychotic break,” her mom alleged.
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The boy’s identity is protected by a publication ban. A CBC report said one of his parents was “instrumental in ensuring the suspect remained on scene and the victim received immediate medical attention.”
“As I can imagine, it happened very quickly and with no warning and so the parents of the boy should not be blamed,” Hancock said. “This is a big reason why I’m making this post. In no way at all is it the fault of the child or the child’s family so please stop judging and knocking the (boy’s) support system as they are going to need their strength to get through this. My heart goes out to the boy and his family and I wish I could change it.”
According to the mom, she contacted cops and doctors to get help for Chorny, who also faces a charge of possession of a weapon dangerous to public peace in relation to the stabbing.
“I kept telling everyone that she was a danger if she isn’t on medication and said I’m scared that something will happen to someone if she loses touch completely,” she wrote.
Chorny is listed in court documents as having no fixed address, per the Halifax Chronicle Herald. Her mom said that she wasn’t living at home.
“I have another child that needs protection, and I felt she was too unpredictable, and we didn’t feel safe,” she said.
Chorny also has alleged ties to the online forum 4Chan. The Halifax Chronicle Herald reported a poster by the name Chorny wrote on the forum a week before the attack: “My social anxiety is unbearable. I rely on others to accompany me every time I step out into the world.”
She wrote about “being closed off from the world” for years and being “heavily dependent on my mother. But that changed when I became homeless, and was thrown into the world, on my own. I was kicked out for my anger issues, which stemmed from a feeling of powerlessness over my own life. In addition to feeling trapped inside myself, I was isolated in a rural community without transportation. I felt a complete lack of control over my own life. I could not get a job or make friends in my community, so (every day) I felt hopeless and closer to suicide.”
Halifax Regional Police charged Chorny earlier this month with the Jan. 27 assault of Katie Lines, a psychiatrist who works at a mental health day hospital in Halifax.
In her additional 4Chan posts, Chorny threatens to cut her own fingers off. “Something needs to die,” she wrote. “The stagnant corrosive energy inside is … festering and killing me.”
In one post, Chorny wishes she was dead.
“I apologize in advance if I live and do something awful,” said the post.