Indianapolis police said a woman claimed she tried to stab her pit bull for eating her chicken sandwich and accidentally stabbed her 1-year-old niece instead.
What are the details?
Police responded to a report of a stabbing just before 11 p.m. Tuesday at a Days Inn in the city’s Castleton neighborhood, WXIN-TV reported, after which they said they found a 1-year-old girl stabbed in the neck.
A short time later, police found the suspect — the girl's 32-year-old aunt, Sharon Key — hiding near a bush outside the hotel, the station said, after which Key was arrested on allegations of criminal recklessness.
The suspect said the stabbing was an accident, WXIN said, citing police reports.
Police told the station Key said the family went to Burger King to pick up food and then returned to the hotel.
Court records indicate Key claimed her pit bull ate her chicken sandwich, after which she got angry and chased the dog around the room with a knife, WXIN said.
When the dog jumped on the bed where the 1-year-old child was lying down, Key said she tried to stab the dog but missed and stabbed her niece by mistake, the station said.
After the stabbing, the child’s mother — who also was in the hotel room — called 911, WXIN said.
Tracy Griffin, the 1-year-old’s grandfather, told the station his granddaughter is expected to survive her injuries. WXIN said she was taken to Riley Children’s Hospital and received several stitches to her ear and neck.
'Bloody and screaming on the bed'
Law & Crime reported that the child’s mother, who is also Key’s sister, told investigators that Key called her around 10 a.m. the same day and asked if she could stay with her at the hotel. The outlet, which reviewed court documents, said Key was dropped off at the hotel later that morning and drank alcohol for “most of the day.”
The mother said she placed her daughter on her stomach on the bed closest to the window and went into the bathroom to give her son a bath, Law & Crime said.
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A short while later, the mother said she heard “loud noises from the bedroom so she walked out and saw that [Key] was holding a knife in her hand and [her daughter] was bloody and screaming on the bed.”
Key “immediately” addressed the child’s injury, stating, “it was an accident” as the mother grabbed a towel and wrapped it around the wound on the back left side of her daughter’s head and applied pressure before calling 911.
The mother said that after she called 911, she turned around and saw Key “walking down the hallway towards the exit.” She then ran down the stairs to the front of the hotel looking for Key and waited for the police to arrive.
Griffin added to WXIN that he wants Key punished: “It’s stupid, for one, but at the same time, she’s a grown-up. She should have known that baby was sitting right there. I want the book thrown at her.”
Image source: YouTube screenshot
He also told the station, “I want her to be accountable for this. My granddaughter is gonna be scarred for the rest of her life.”
Key was charged with one count of neglect of a dependent resulting in serious bodily injury and two counts of criminal recklessness committed with a deadly weapon, Law & Crime reported, citing court records.
Key was scheduled to appear in court again 9 a.m. Friday, records show.
Anything else?
WXIN, citing jail records, said Key has been in and out of jail more than 20 times over the last decade. In one case, she pleaded guilty to stabbing a woman with a box cutter during a fight at a gas station in 2020, the station said, adding that she was released from the Department of Correction in March for that crime.
Key’s family members told WXIN she's struggled with drug and alcohol addiction and mental health issues for years.
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