Social Worker Stabbed by Client, Police Say

Police in Westchester County have charged a White Plains man with 2nd degree attempted murder after he allegedly stabbed a social worker who had just arrived to his apartment. 

Frances Mortenson, 47, was in critical condition at Westchester Medical Center after suffering multiple stab wounds just before 11 am Wednesday morning.  The accused attacker is 26-year-old Jamile Wilson, a tall man neighbors uniformly describe as mentally disturbed.

"He had a big man's body but the mind or brain of a child," said neighbor Bankaj Deshpand.

"Somebody said that he was ill and he probably didn't have his medication," said neighbor Patty Fraley.

The stabbing unfolded in the Lexington Hills apartment building on 235 S. Lexington Avenue in White Plains.  Investigators say after stabbing his social worker, Wilson called 911 and confessed to the operator.

"The suspect told us that he had gotten into some sort of dispute with his social worker and he was armed with a knife," said White Plains Public Safety Commissioner David Chong. 

The officer who answered the 911 call was able to convince the suspect to put down the knife.  When police arrived, they found Mortenson conscious but bleeding in the bedroom. 

A source close to the investigation told News 4 New York that Mortenson was a social worker employed by St. Vincent's Hospital in Harrison, NY.

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