Longwood stabbing: Girl, 12, played dead after father attacked her, killed little sister: affidavit
Florida girl, 12, played dead after father attacked her: affidavit
A Florida father is now facing first-degree murder and attempted murder charges after police say he stabbed his 3-year-old daughter to death and attacked his 12-year-old daughter in their Longwood home, according to an arrest affidavit on Friday.
LONGWOOD, Fla. - A Central Florida father is now facing first-degree murder and attempted murder charges after police say he stabbed his 3-year-old daughter to death and attacked his 12-year-old daughter in their Longwood home, according to an arrest affidavit on Friday.
The Longwood Police Department gave an update during a news conference on Friday. They said Juan Bravo-Torres is currently in critical condition at HCA Florida Lake Monroe Hospital after police say he stabbed himself after attacking his kids on Thursday. Bravo-Torres has been arrested and is under law enforcement supervision while he is in the hospital.
Longwood stabbing: Girl, 12, played dead after father attacked her, killed little sister, police say
A Central Florida father is now facing first-degree murder and attempted murder charges after police say he stabbed his 3-year-old daughter to death and attacked his 12-year-old daughter in their Longwood home, according to an arrest affidavit on Friday.
In new details released on Friday, police say the 12-year-old girl told them she was sleeping when her father reached for her neck.
"The victim said she thought he was reaching for her necklace, but her dad sliced her throat," an arrest affidavit stated.
Juan Bravo-Torres
The girl reportedly told police that her dad went to get another knife and that's when she got up and found her little sister on the floor in the hallway. The girl said her dad attacked her again and she fought back, but eventually played dead hoping he would stop.
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The report stated that Bravo-Torres dragged her and her sister into the bathroom and that she saw him cutting his wrists "and heard what sounded like he was cutting his throat." The girl then laid still until she thought her dad lost consciousness, grabbed the knife he used in the attack to protect herself, and walked to the McDonald's about a mile away where her mother worked.
WATCH: Officers leave flowers at memorial for 4-year-old girl stabbed to death at Florida home
Three Longwood police officers brought flowers and balloons to a growing memorial outside a home where a four-year-old girl was stabbed to death this week. Her 12-year-old sister was also stabbed and is in critical condition at the hospital. Police say their father is a person of interest in the case.
According to the affidavit, the girl was bleeding from the neck and told her mother that her father had attacked her. Longwood police say the girl remains in critical but stable condition at the hospital.
During a news conference on Friday, Longwood Police Sgt. Derek Chenoweth called the 12-year-old girl courageous.
"The amount of courage that this 12-year-old young lady had, it's just remarkable," Sgt. Chenoweth said. "At that age, to be sleeping and woken by being attacked with a knife. Seeing your younger sister and the condition she was in, fighting off your father and having the mindset to think 'how am I going to get out of this? What can I do to actively participate in saving my own life? And she thought the best thing at that time was to play dead, and it 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. They said they also found the little girl who was already dead.
Chenoweth said that Bravo-Torres was arrested in 2011 for a domestic-related incident.
Bravo-Torres will be transported to the John E. Polk Correctional Facility in Sanford upon discharge from the hospital.