A 12-year-old girl in Florida is alive after pretending to be dead as her mother allegedly stabbed her and left her in a remote patch of brush, according to investigators. Deputies say the child’s quick thinking turned what authorities describe as an attempted killing into a survival story that has stunned even veteran law enforcement. Her mother, identified as 35-year-old Gwendolyn Girard, is now facing serious charges while a court weighs whether she is mentally fit to stand trial.
The ambush in the nature preserve and a child’s split-second decision
Investigators say the violence began after Mom Drove Daughter to a secluded Nature Preserve in Charlotte, Count, Fla, a place the girl reportedly believed would be a quiet outing with her mother. Instead, arrest records state that Girard pinned her daughter to the ground and repeatedly stabbed her in the Face and Neck and Left Her in Brush, targeting her upper body in a way detectives later described as an apparent effort to ensure she would not survive. The girl later told Deputies that her attacker was her own mother, 35-year-old Gwendolyn Girard, and that the assault came without warning in the isolated area of Charlotte County where few people were likely to pass by.
According to the child’s account, she realized in the middle of the attack that her only chance was to stop moving and “play dead,” hoping her mother would believe she had already been killed. Investigators say that when the girl went limp and silent, Girard eventually stopped stabbing, dragged her deeper into the Brush, and tried to conceal her body before leaving the scene. Deputies believe that after Girard walked away, thinking her daughter was dead, the wounded child waited until it was safe, then struggled out of the vegetation and toward a nearby path, leaving a trail of blood through the remote preserve.
Rescue in the brush and a confession that shocked detectives
The girl’s escape intersected with a couple who happened to be in the area on Mon, and who suddenly came upon a 12-year-old bleeding heavily in the undergrowth of Charlotte County. Audio later released from the 911 call captures the panic as the bystanders described her injuries and begged for help, while dispatchers rushed paramedics and deputies to the scene. Responding officers followed the blood trail back toward the secluded spot where the child said she had been attacked, and they quickly realized they were dealing with what one sheriff later called one of the most disturbing cases of his career.
Once stabilized, the girl told investigators that her mother had driven her out to the Nature Preserve, attacked her without provocation, and left her to die. Detectives in PUNTA, GORDA, Fla said that when they located Girard, the Florida mother ultimately confessed to stabbing her 12-year-old daughter in the face and neck, a detail that matched the child’s wounds and the bloody scene in the brush. Family members later told reporters that the Mom Charged After the Year, Old Survives Stabbing by Playing Dead, had been behaving erratically in the days leading up to the attack, though the full picture of what led to the violence remains under investigation and, based on available sources, any deeper motive is Unverified based on available sources.
Alleged motive, mounting charges, and questions about competency
In statements summarized in an arrest report, one relative told investigators She heard Girard say that everyone was trying to kill her and take custody of the child, and that She was going to kill her first rather than lose her. That alleged comment, relayed to Deputies, has become central to the state’s theory that the stabbing was a deliberate attempt to end the girl’s life, not a sudden outburst. Prosecutors have charged Girard with attempted murder, aggravated child abuse, and related counts tied to the brutal attack and they have emphasized that the girl survived only because she was able to stay still long enough to convince her mother she was already dead.
As the criminal case moves forward, the court is also confronting whether Girard is mentally competent to stand trial. During a recent hearing, defense attorneys for Girard asked for a formal evaluation, and During that appearance a judge ordered a competency exam and agreed that three doctors should assess her mental state before any trial proceeds. A separate court update noted that Gwendalyn Gerard remains in custody without bond while those evaluations are completed, and another hearing video confirmed that Gwendalyn Gerard’s attorney told the judge there was already an order for three doctors to examine her. Until those findings are returned, the woman accused of turning a quiet nature outing into a near-fatal ambush will stay in jail, while the 12-year-old she allegedly tried to kill continues her long recovery from both physical wounds and a betrayal that cannot be easily measured.
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