--- description: Four children were fatally stabbed in Memphis, Tennessee Friday, and their mother has been taken into custody. title: 4 Children Fatally Stabbed in Memphis; Mother Taken Into Custody image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 4 Children Fatally Stabbed in Memphis; Mother Taken Into Custody  by [Tessa Berenson](/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 1, 2016 8:14 PM CUT  by [Tessa Berenson](/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 1, 2016 8:14 PM CUT Four children were fatally stabbed in Memphis, Tenn. Friday, and their mother has been taken into custody. The authorities responded to a call to an apartment complex in Memphis at 12:50 p.m. local time,[ KTLA 5](http://ktla.com/2016/07/01/4-young-children-stabbed-to-death-in-tennessee-mother-in-custody-sheriffs-office/ "undefined") reported. There they found four young children stabbed to death; the deputies who went to the scene [described the children as “babies,”](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/63911f5c9d2b4a26ad001f271d72211b/4-children-fatally-stabbed-memphis-mother-custody "undefined") a sheriff’s spokesman told the Associated Press. “Our community has suffered an egregious act of evil and tremendous loss today,” said Sheriff Bill Oldham. The mother was taken into custody, the AP reported. The names of the mother and the victims were not immediately released. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4392027/memphis-children-stabbed-mother/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4392027/memphis-children-stabbed-mother/"},"headline":"4 Children Fatally Stabbed in Memphis; Mother Taken Into Custody","datePublished":"2016-07-01T20:14:04.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T23:01:19.386Z","description":"\"Our community has suffered an egregious act of evil and tremendous loss today\"","url":"https://time.com/4392027/memphis-children-stabbed-mother/","keywords":["Crime","Tennessee"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4392027/memphis-children-stabbed-mother/","name":"4 Children Fatally Stabbed in Memphis; Mother Taken Into Custody"}}]}] ```