Omaha woman who tried to kidnap a toddler at Walmart had history of alleged arson and violence

By the time Noemi Guzman held a toddler at knifepoint in front of a Nebraska Walmart, the 31-year-old woman had struggled with mental illness for several years of her life

By the time Noemi Guzman held a toddler at knifepoint in front of a Nebraska Walmart, the 31-year-old woman had struggled with mental illness for several years of her life.

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Guzman had previously been to court for both allegedly trying to set her father’s house on fire and ransacking a priest’s home — on the same day. For those charges, she pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. And years earlier, a judge ordered her to stay away from a neighbor she’d allegedly slashed with a knife.

On Tuesday, Guzman sliced a 3-year-old’s face and hand with a kitchen knife stolen from a Walmart in Omaha, and after she refused to put the knife down, Omaha police said, officers shot and killed her.