Gwendolyn Girard (Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office).
A 35-year-old woman from Florida has been arrested for allegedly stabbing a 12-year-old girl in the face and neck and attempting to conceal the body in a nature preserve while the victim was still alive.
Gwendolyn Girard is facing charges of aggravated battery and child abuse following the incident. The Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office received a call on Monday afternoon about the injured girl at the Cecil Webb Wildlife Management Area in Punta Gorda. The girl was discovered by bystanders with stab wounds and was in a weakened state, requiring immediate medical assistance.
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The victim told deputies Girard attacked her and left her under the brush before driving away in a gold van.
Law enforcement officers located Girard and the van in North Fort Myers, where she was taken into custody for questioning. During the interview, Girard confessed to the stabbing and disclosed the whereabouts of the knife used in the assault.
Authorities have not detailed the relationship between Girard and the victim. A probable cause arrest affidavit was not available as of Tuesday afternoon.
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“In my 33-year career, there are only a handful of times that I have been left speechless. This is one of those times,” Charlotte County Sheriff Bill Prummell said in a statement. “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.”
Girard was arrested and taken to the Charlotte County Jail where she remains on a $750,000 bond. She did not have a lawyer listed. The girl was last listed in stable condition.
