If she is a schizophrenic, she was acting under severe delusions that made perfect sense to her at the time, but to no one else. For example, she may have believed that cutting off the child's arms was the same as giving her a haircut and never expected any ill effects. Then when the child began to bleed profusely the mother became alarmed and at that point called 911. Schizophrenics suffer under delusions (false beliefs) that could potentially cause great harm to themselves or others. Some schizophrenics have mutilated themselves because of their delusions and hallucinations. Absent any other explanation I am inclined to believe that the mother is schizophrenic because that is the most probable conclusion. Since she is not a terrorist living in Fallujah, I doubt that she did it merely out of a desire to be evil. I'm no bleeding heart and I believe that she deserves punishment for what she is done, but at the same time I know something about mental illness.
I work for an MD and we're seeing a lot more Bipolar and Schizophrenics than ever for some reason. This is why, while what happened to this baby is devestating, I hope everyone looks at the whole picture. IMO it's one more case of an over-loaded or ignorant system breaking down. Happening all too often these days and our children are suffering because of it.
I agree with you totally.
It was an act we are all horrified by, but if we look at this merely in terms of good and evil, then we assume we cannot prevent it. I believe things like this can be prevented and we must strive to do so. I don't have the answers, but I want the questions asked. We cannot save this poor child, but maybe we can learn and prevent others from becoming victims of the same horror.