PUNTA GORDA, Fla. — A Florida woman is facing charges after stabbing a 12-year-old girl at a state nature preserve and attempting to hide her body under brush, according to the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office.

Monday afternoon, deputies responded to the Cecil Webb Wildlife Management Area after bystanders found a 12-year-old suffering from knife wounds to her face and neck.

The sheriff’s office said the victim needed immediate medical attention, but was able to identify the suspect to deputies as Gwendolyn Girard, 35.

The victim said Girard attacked her with a knife and left her under some brush before fleeing the scene in a van. Investigators did not immediately say whether the child and Girard knew each other.

Girard and the suspect vehicle were later located in North Fort Myers by members of the Lee County Sheriff’s Office.

The Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office Major Crimes Unit obtained a warrant for Girard’s arrest on charges of aggravated battery and aggravated child abuse. 

The sheriff’s office said detectives interviewed Girard, who confessed to the crime and gave investigators the location of the knife used in the attack.

The victim was treated for her wounds and is in what investigators described as “stable condition.”

“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. “To attack a child with a knife…I can’t understand it. 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. Unfortunately, the mental trauma inflicted on her may never heal.”

Girard is being held at the Lee County Jail with a $750,000 bond, pending extradition to the Charlotte County Jail.

The investigation remains ongoing.