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Woman arrested after allegedly stabbing her mother to death

Emily Rizzo.
Photo credit: Bristol Township Police

A Bristol Township woman was arrested Tuesday afternoon after allegedly stabbing her mother, police said.

At 4:32 p.m., Bristol Township officers were dispatched to a residence on Ivy Hill Road in the Levittown neighborhood for a report of a stabbing. The Levittown-Fairless Hills EMS unit had originally arrived for a psychiatric emergency and found a woman with multiple stab wounds.

According to police, 32-year-old Emily Ann Rizzo of Levittown stabbed her mother to death in the house.

Officers found Rizzo in a room, where she was found lying face down while screaming incomprehensible things about the devil, police said.

Despite repeated requests from police, Rizzo did not comply and was forcibly dragged out of bed and handcuffed, police said.

Authorities reported that Rizzo resisted arrest and had to be carried out of the house while continuing to yell things about God and Satan and threatening to kill everyone, police said.

A family member said Rizzo came home under the influence of methamphetamine and started screaming before the stabbing, police said.

She reportedly threatened to kill her son and grabbed a steak knife.

During a struggle over the knife, Rizzo’s mother was stabbed, police said.

The family managed to secure the knife before the authorities arrived.

Rizzo’s mother was taken to Lower Bucks Hospital with a wound to her neck, four wounds to her upper body and one to her right leg, police said.

Rizzo was also hospitalized for psychiatric treatment before being taken into police custody.

Rizzo was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, simple assault, reckless endangerment, willful possession of an instrument of crime and harassment. She was preliminarily arraigned Wednesday afternoon before Duty District Judge Terry Hughes and sentenced to post 10 percent of $200,000.

Editor’s note: All persons arrested or charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using police information and publicly available court documents.

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