LITTLE FERRY — White paint is peeling from the two-story story brick buildings of the Renaissance Equity apartment complex on Liberty Street, where a newborn was stabbed and killed last week.

The Equity apartments are just one such complex along the stretch of Liberty Street between Main Street and Route 46. At the intersection with the highway, a gas station and a used car sit lot on opposite corners. But the curb appeal is not what matters to the people who live there, many of whom are immigrants from India, Korea or the Middle East.

What matters is the sense of community these garden apartments provide. It's the kind of place where parents watch from the front porch while their children play with the neighbor's kids, where doors are left open and people lean on the sill to talk to each other through kitchen windows.

"It's quiet, and all the families are friendly," said Majd Alrawashdeh, 25, who has lived there for more than a year.

It made the stabbing death of a 5-day-old infant that much more staggering.

The killing, allegedly committed by the baby girl's 29-year-old mother, happened about a hundred feet from Alrawashdeh's door. She had watched as Hiralbahen Bhavsar's stomach grew throughout her pregnancy.

"I saw her walking around when she was pregnant," Alrawashdeh said of Bhavsar. "I was shocked. I couldn't sleep that night. [The baby] was only 5 days old."

Other neighbors declined to talk about the alleged killing, which the county prosecutor said happened while the family was eating dinner.

Bhavsar called 911 at about 8:30 p.m. Thursday and told the dispatcher she was having chest pains, according to an affidavit. But then she said her husband was trying to kill her and he was in their living room with a knife.

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The police arrived and handcuffed the husband, Jaymin Bhavsar. But other family members said they were making a mistake. And that’s when authorities say Bhavsar told them chilling news: She had cut the throat of her own daughter.

"I did it," Bhavsar allegedly told Little Ferry police. "I killed my baby. I did it."

Police found the baby's body in the bedroom, with knife wounds to her neck and arm.

Authorities charged Bhavsar with first-degree murder. She is being held at Bergen New Bridge Medical Center in Paramus.

Jaymin Bhavsar did not respond to requests for comment Monday. Neither did any person listed by public records as being a member of Bhavsar's family. No one answered the door at the apartment in which the alleged crime occurred.

There is no way to know from the information police provided whether Bhavsar was suffering from postpartum depression. Experts say it is common for women who have just given birth to suffer what is called the "baby blues" — irritable feelings spurred by hormonal changes that typically dissipate in a month.

More serious is postpartum depression, which strikes one in nine mothers, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Symptoms include high levels of anxiety, sleeplessness and feelings of exasperation or numbness, according to Sue Varma, a New York City psychiatrist who specializes in women’s mental health.

Far more serious is postpartum psychosis, which can include delusions, hallucinations and rapidly shifting moods, Varma said. It requires inpatient hospitalization and mood-stabilizing medications.

According to the affidavit, Bhavsar took her crying daughter into the bedroom and left her there while she went to the kitchen to grab an unknown item. Then she headed back.

Bhavsar later allegedly told Prosecutor's Office detectives that she “didn’t want her baby” and that she had killed her by stabbing her once in the neck and once in the arm.

Staff Writers Katie Sobko and Anthony Zurita contributed to this article.

Email: janoski@northjersey.com