Florida woman Maisa Alvarez chains son, stabs him repeatedly while asleep

A mother who confessed to chaining her seven-year-old son's hands together as he slept before stabbing him repeatedly in the chest with a steak knife was arrested after calling police to tell them what she had done.

Police said Maisa Alvarez, 42, used a two and a half foot length of chain to bind her child's hands and then began knifing him in the chest at their home in Lake Wales, Polk County, Florida, U.S on Tuesday moing.

Alvarez could not tell police what drove her to attack her son and said only that she 'didn't know' why she had done it.

Her son, whose injuries are not thought to be life threatening, is recovering at the Aold Palmer Hospital in Orlando, Florida.

Lake Wales Deputy Police Chief Troy Schulze told wftv.com: 'He (the victim) woke up to his mother chaining his hands.'

The officer said it appeared the child had put his hands up to try and defend himself, and that Alvarez had then 'realised what was going on' and stopped.

'Our hearts go out to that little boy. I couldn't imagine it. I wouldn't want to,' he said.

When investigators arrived at the house they said the knife and the chain used to bind the boy's hands were lying on a dresser.

Neighbours in Lake Wales described the family as 'very nice' and said they had been left shocked by news of the disturbing attack.

'They were very nice. That's why it's surprising. It's crazy,' said Kamilah Joseph.

Alvarez remains in police custody.