Woman who killed son, 6, remains hospitalized

Martina Harding, 42, the Deptford Township woman charged with fatally slitting her 6-year-old son's throat before turning the knife on herself, remained hospitalized at Cooper University Hospital in Camden yesterday after undergoing surgery on Saturday for a self-inflicted throat wound, said Bernie Weisenfeld, spokesman for the Gloucester County Prosecutor's Office.

Police were called Saturday to the house in the 700 block of Dartmouth Drive, where they recovered the 13-inch knife they believe the woman used to kill her son, Jared. The motive for the killing was not immediately clear, although neighbors told reporters that Harding was facing the loss of her job and that her husband, Christian, was unemployed, causing family stress.

Weisenfeld said that when Harding is deemed medically well enough to be released from the hospital, she likely would be transferred to the women's unit of the county jail in Clarksboro.

- Michael Matza