A 12-year-old girl survived a stabbing allegedly carried out by her mother in Charlotte County, Florida, on Monday, according to law enforcement.
Her grandma told Fort Myers news station WINK-TV that the girl survived by playing dead during the attack.
The Context
Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office deputies found the 12-year-old after being called to the Cecil Webb Wildlife Management Area by passersby. They found the girl with cuts to her face and neck and determined she needed immediate medical attention.
Her mother, Gwendolyn Girard, was arrested and charged with aggravated battery and aggravated child abuse, the sheriff’s office said in a press release.
What To Know
When officials found the child, she told deputies that the suspect, identified as Girard, attacked her with a knife and then left her under the brush before fleeing in a gold-colored van.
The girl’s grandmother, Eunice Kent, who is the father’s mother, told WINK News her granddaughter is a “brave little girl.”
“She said she played dead. She said she fought her mother off as long as she could, and then she played dead, and then her mom left her there,” Kent said.
Following an investigation with assistance from the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, deputies located Girard and the van in North Fort Myers later that day. Authorities said that Girard confessed to the attack when questioned and provided the location of the weapon used. The van was impounded.
The 12-year-old was treated for her wounds and is in stable condition, according to the sheriff’s office.
Sheriff Bill Prummell described the case as one of the most disturbing he has witnessed in his decades-long career in law enforcement.
What People Are Saying
Charlotte County Sheriff Bill Prummell, in a statement: “In my 33-year career, there are only a handful of times that I have been left speechless. This is one of those times. To attack a child with a knife…I can’t understand it. It is only by God’s grace that she is still with us today, and I pray for her as she heals from this horrific incident. Unfortunately, the mental trauma inflicted on her may never heal.”
Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office public information officer Chris Hall told WINK News: “All the wounds appear to be knife-inflicted from all the reports that I’ve read. There were stab wounds. There were cut wounds. There were defensive wounds on the victim’s hands as well, where she tried to block some of the attack.”
What Happens Next
Girard is being held on a $750,000 bond. Officials said she will be extradited to the Charlotte County Jail. The investigation remains open.
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