Woman indicted over 'trying to drown 3-year-old girl in pool because she's Muslim'

Thursday, September 5, 2024 - A Texas woman has been formally indicted over the allegedly racially motivated attempted drowning of a three-year-old Palestinian-American girl.

42-year-old Elizabeth Wolf was arrested back in May after she tried to drown the little girl at an apartment complex swimming pool in the Dallas-Fort Worth suburb of Euless 'because she was Muslim'. The girl's six-year-old brother was also hurt in the incident.

Three months after the incident, a Tarrant County grand jury has charged Wolf with attempted capital murder of a person under 10 years of age and intentionally causing bodily injury to a child.

The indictment filed on August 15 also included a hate crime enhancement, according to court records that came to light on Tuesday. The enhancement may raise the severity of Wolf's sentence if she is found guilty.

Investigators allege that Wolf, whose representative could not immediately be reached for comment, was drunk at the time of the attempted drowning.

Wolf approached a hijab-wearing Muslim woman - identified as Mrs H - at the apartment complex pool in May, according to a police report.

Officials said that Wolf began making racist comments and demanded to know where Mrs H's family was from and if the two children in the pool were hers.

After a few minutes, she tried to drown the 3-year-old and attempted to grab the 6-year-old boy, the police report said.

'Wolf tried to grab (the mother's) six-year-old son but he pulled away from her grasp, which caused a scratch on his finger.

'The mother began helping her son when Wolf grabbed her three-year-old daughter and forced her underwater. The mother was able to pull her daughter from the water.

'Her daughter had been yelling for help and was coughing up water,' Euless police said.

Mrs H was able to pull her daughter from the water, police said, and local medics responded to the scene and the children were medically cleared.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) explained that a Black man helped rescue the young girl from the attacker as more people gathered and witnessed what had happened.

CAIR later confirmed that the children are now safe but severely traumatized.

As Wolf was being handcuffed by police, she allegedly shouted to a witness who was with Mrs H, 'Tell her I will kill her, and I will kill her whole family,' the agency reported.

Mrs. H also told CAIR that Wolf had allegedly snatched her hijab off her head and began beating and kicking her, preventing her from reaching her daughter as the suspect held her head underwater.

In a statement, the distressed mother said: 'We are American citizens, originally from Palestine, and I don’t know where to go to feel safe with my kids. My country is facing a war, and we are facing that hate here.

'My daughter is traumatized; whenever I open the apartment door, she runs away and hides, telling me she is afraid the lady will come and immerse her head in the water again.

'Also, my husband’s employment is jeopardized due to having to leave work to accompany me and our four kids whenever we have appointments and errands to run.'