Elderly woman stabbed inside her apartment

“It was definitely forced entry. She has a sliding glass window, and that was damaged,” says the Houston Police Department Robbery Division's Norman Wallace.

Houston police stood outside of an apartment on West 18th Street where just hours before a maintenance workers found a 71-year-old woman that had been brutally attacked.

“Basically he was servicing some lights, he saw something that looked unusual to him at that time, he notified his management. His management thought because of her age and circumstance that maybe they should go in and look in on her. They did and that’s when they found her,” says Wallace.

The woman was transported to an area hospital and was last listed as stable. Police say they aren't quite sure how long she had been injured but believe it happened between Thursday night and Friday morning. Apartment complex managers have been putting out fliers all day on residents' doors warning them to be cautious and to look out for each other.

Wallace says, “Be aware of your surroundings. If you are getting out of a car, don’t just get out of the car. Look around before you actually exit your car. Have a straight strategy of how you were going to get to your house. Keep your cell phone in your hand. If you can make a lot of noise, unfortunately if you are by yourself and somebody does something to you, making lot of noise of people actually come by and help you out.”