Polk County Sheriff's Office
The young girl "jumped into the pool" while her mother was trying to get away and her grandfather "kept pushing her back under," per police -- with the man later allegedly blaming his daughter-in-law for starting it.
A woman is alive, thanks to the efforts of her daughter and a neighbor who heard her cries and called 911. Her father-in-law is now charged with trying to kill her.
It happened over the weekend at a vacation rental home at the Solterra Resort in Davenport, Florida, just south of Walt Disney World, according to a press release from the Polk County Sheriff's Office. A dispute by family members vacationing together nearly turned deadly, save for the intervention of a 9-year-old girl and the vacationers next door.
Mark Raymond Gibbon, 62, of Beaconsfield, England was arrested Sunday and charged with attempted 2nd-Degree Murder and two counts of Battery after he allegedly tried to drown his daughter-in-law, Jasmine Wyld, in a pool over a dispute about his grandchildren, according to the release.
The probable cause affidavit reviewed by Law&Crime specified that the argument allegedly was about "stipulations of his will."
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View StoryPolice were dispatched to the resort at around 5:19 p.m., per CBS affiliate WKMG, after two sisters vacationing next door called 911. Witnesses and the 33-year-old victim told sheriff's deputies that what began as an argument between Gibbon and his daughter-in-law in the swimming pool turned into him allegedly trying to drown her.
The victim said that Gibbon "pushed her under the water and held her down multiple times," per the criminal complaint. She said she tried to get away from him repeatedly, but he kept shoving her under. "She advised that she could not breathe and believed that she was going to drown," the deputies wrote in their report.
Eventually, her 9-year-old daughter saw what was happening from inside the vacation home and, per People, ran outside and "jumped into the pool" in an attempt to pull her grandfather off of her. A witness later told police that he "pushed" the girl away and again pushed Wyld under.
The sisters staying next door heard the woman's cries to call 911, with the affidavit saying that Gibbon did not stop his alleged attack until the sisters shouted out that they had, in fact, called the police.
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View StoryThe document further states that when questioned about the incident by officers, Gibbon admitted to pushing his daughter-in-law under the water, but insisted that he never had any intentions of drowning her. He further said that they had both been drinking and the conversation shifted to talking about his will. Gibbon claimed she started the physical altercation by slapping him.
One witness told police that she saw Gibbon "push [Wyld] under the water and hold her there multiple times," per the report, and that he "scratched Jasmine on her chest." The witness said that she feared Wyld "could have been drowned." Police noted that while Gibbon had no visible injuries, Wyld had a visible scratch across her chest.
"It’s great that Polk County draws visitors from all across the world, but we expect vacationers to behave while they visit with us, just as we expect our lifelong residents to do the same," said Sheriff Grady Judd. "Because Mr. Gibbon couldn’t control his anger, he may find himself spending a lot more time in Florida than he had anticipated."
Gibbon is currently in the Polk County Jail where he is being held without bond. His next court date is set for September 9.
