By Amanda Hoover|ahoover@njadvancemedia.com|
MOUNT HOLLY — The woman who threw a young girl in front of an on-coming train as a sacrifice was found not guilty of attempted murder by reason of insanity.
Autumn Matacchiera, 20, of Hainesport, was acquitted on the charge Wednesday in Burlington County Superior Court. Judge Philip E. Haines, who made the ruling after Matacchiera waived her right to a trial by jury, did so after reviewing reports from two doctors who examined her — one in April and another in August.
She was arrested in January after pushing a 5-year-old girl onto train tracks in Burlington City. The girl was pulled from the tracks before the train arrived, and sustained scrapes and bruises.
In medical reports read in court, Matacchiera described going on “autopilot” the day of the attack, and said she has other impulses she sometimes cannot control.
Source: NJ.com
