Florida mother allegedly stabbed her 12-year-old daughter, who played dead to survive after being dumped in brush

CHARLOTTE COUNTY, Fla. (TCN) — Authorities arrested a 35-year-old woman on suspicion of stabbing a child in the face and neck and trying to conceal her even though she was still alive.

On May 26, the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office responded to the Cecil Webb Wildlife Management Area to a report of a 12-year-old with lacerations. Deputies said the victim appeared to “be weak and in need of immediate medical attention.”

The victim reportedly told deputies that Gwendolyn Girard had attacked her with a knife and tried to hide her under brush before she fled in a van. The Lee County Sheriff’s Office located Girard’s vehicle in North Fort Myers, and she was taken in for questioning.

Girard was booked into the Lee County Jail on $750,000 bond and will be extradited to Charlotte County, where she’ll face charges of aggravated battery and aggravated child abuse.

The victim’s grandmother told WINK-TV that Girard is the victim’s mother. The grandmother also reportedly said, “She’s 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.”

The victim is in stable condition, according to the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office.

Sheriff Bill Prummell said the incident left him “speechless,” adding, “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.”

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