Woman stabbed 12-year-old girl in face and neck, dumped her in nature preserve — but she was still alive, cops say

Gwendolyn Girard (Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office).

A Florida woman is behind bars after she allegedly stabbed a 12-year-old girl in the face and neck before she tried to hide the body in a nature preserve even though the victim was still alive.

Gwendolyn Girard, 35, stands accused of aggravated battery and child abuse. Deputies with the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office responded on Monday afternoon to the Cecil Webb Wildlife Management Area in Punta Gorda after bystanders found the girl suffering from the stab wounds. When deputies arrived, she was “weak and in need of immediate medical attention,” the agency said in a press release.

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The victim told deputies Girard attacked her and left her under the brush before driving away in a gold van.

Cops tracked the van and Girard to a location in North Fort Myers and took the woman in for questioning and the vehicle in for processing. Detectives interviewed the suspect, who reportedly admitted to stabbing the girl and revealed the location of the knife used in the attack.

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.”