Florida father pleads not guilty in stabbing death of 3-year-old daughter

Florida father pleads not guilty to stabbing death of 3-year-old daughter

A Longwood father accused of killing his 3-year-old daughter and attacking his 12-year-old daughter has pleaded not guilty.

LONGWOOD, Fla. - A Longwood father accused of murdering his three-year-old daughter has pleaded not guilty to the crime.

Juan Bravo-Torres is charged with the toddler's death and the attempted murder of his 12-year-old daughter. Longwood police say Bravo-Torres stabbed both of them while they were sleeping back in July, then himself.

Prosecutors described the murder as "especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel" and was committed in a "cold, calculated, and premeditated manner without any pretense of moral or legal justification".

Bravo-Torres was indicted for first-degree premeditated murder and attempted first-degree murder.

Longwood police say Bravo-Torres killed little Eva and then cut the throat of his 12-year-old daughter while she was sleeping.

Police say the girl played dead after being stabbed, managed to escape the house after her father passed out, and then walked a mile to the McDonald's where her mother worked.

When officers arrived at the home on Highland Street, police said they found Bravo-Torres in the bathroom with injuries to his torso and he was unconscious.

Police still do not have a motive for the stabbings. FOX 35 is working to learn the condition of the 12-year-old girl.