12-Year-Old Daughter Plays Dead to Stop Stabbing Attack by Her Mother in Nature Reserve: Police

It all went down on May 26 at the Cecil Webb Wildlife Management Area in Punta Gorda, where police were called with a report of a young girl with lacerations on her face, neck, and hands, per CBS affiliate WINK.

According to a CCSO press release, when deputies arrived at the scene, they described the girl as "weak and in need of immediate medical attention," She was bleeding and "barely able to speak," per WFTV, but was rushed to a hospital and is now listed in stable condition.

The girl was able to identify her mother, Gwendolyn Girard, 35, as her attacker, according to multiple local media outlets.

"All the wounds appear to be knife-inflicted," said Chris Hall of the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office in a news conference on Tuesday. "There were stab wounds. There were cut wounds. There were defensive wounds on the victim's hands as well, where she tried to block some of the attack."

Speaking with WINK after the alleged attack, the victim's grandmother called her a "brave little girl." She added, "She said she played dead. She said she fought her mother off as long as she could, and then she played dead, and then her mom left her there."

"The victim had been, I hate to use the word discarded, but that's kind of the best way to describe what it was," said Hall, according to Fox 4 Now. "After the attack she was left bloodied and under a pile of brush."

Deputies believe that after the attack, and believing her daughter was dead, Girard tried to hide her body. She then left and drove away in a gold van, according to what her daughter told authorities.

In response to her statement, police quickly launched a search of the vehicle and were able to track it down to the North Fort Myers area within a matter of hours.

Girard was apprehended and purportedly confessed to the attack, and revealed where she had hidden the weapon. In his press conference, Hall stated that a dive team search of a canal near the family home was connected to this stabbing incident.

"In my 33-year career, there are only a handful of times that I have been left speechless. This is one of those times," said Charlotte County Sheriff Bill Prummell at the department's news conference. "To attack a child with a knife -- I can't understand it."

He gave credit to the people who found her wandering around the area for helping to save her life. "You can call it fate, you can call it kismet, you can call it whatever you want but I think at the end of the day those people were there for a reason and thank God that they were there," he said.

"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," Hall added. "Unfortunately, the mental trauma inflicted on her may never heal."

Girard is facing charges of aggravated battery and aggravated child abuse. She is being held in the Charlotte County Jail on a $750,000 bond.