Juan Bravo Torres is in the hospital, but under arrest.
Photo: Longwood County Sheriff’s Department/Courtesy
A father of a family stabbed his two daughters, killing the 4-year-old girl and injuring the 12-year-old girl, who had to play dead so that the man would not stab her anymore. She later slashed her wrists in an attempt to commit suicide, but is found in a hospital charged with manslaughter.
The Longwood Police Department held a press conference where they said that Juan Bravo Torres is in critical condition at the Hospital HCA Florida Lake Monroe after officers say he stabbed himself.
Juan Bravo Torres is under arrest and has police supervision while in the hospital, FOX 35 News reported.
The defendant’s 12-year-old daughter told authorities that she was sleeping when her father He grabbed her by the neck and began to attack her.
“The victim said she thought he was reaching for her necklace, but his father slit his throat“, reads an affidavit.
The minor reportedly explained that her father went to get another knife and when he got up he found his little sister on the floor in the hallway. The girl said that her father attacked her again and she fought back, but finally she played dead hoping he would stop.
The report stated that Mr. dragged them into the bathroom to see how he cut their wrists and it sounded like he was cutting his throat. The little girl stayed still after she took the knife from her to protect herself from her and she walked to the McDonald’s a mile away, where her mother worked.
The teenager was bleeding when she arrived with her mother and told her that her father had attacked her and her little sister was dead.
Longwood police said during the conference that the victim remains in critical condition at the hospital.
“The amount of courage this 12-year-old had is simply remarkable. Sleeping and waking up from being attacked with a knife. Seeing your little sister and the condition that she was in,” Sergeant Derek Chenoweth shared.
And he also added: “Fighting with your father and having the mindset of thinking ‘how am I going to get out of this? What can I do to actively participate in saving my own life? And she thought that the best thing at that moment was to play dead, and it worked”, with admiration revealed the sergeant, who also called her brave.
When officers arrived at the house on Highland Street, police found Bravo Torres in the bathroom with injuries to his torso, wrists and was unconscious. They also found the little girl who was already dead.
Juan Bravo Torres, who already had a criminal record, will be transported to the Correctional Center John E. Polk in Sanford upon discharge from the hospital.
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