The mother of the teen now charged with attempted murder in Sunday’s daytime stabbing of a six-year-old boy near a bus stop in downtown Halifax says she’s “been trying desperately for years to get her the help she needs.”

In a social media post Monday, Andrea Hancock wrote that her daughter, Elliott Chorny, “is a severely unwell person,” and needs treatment.

Hancock said she loves her daughter “deeply, but due to her unchecked mental health, I haven’t known her for a long time.”