The family of a 7-year-old girl from Michigan, who suffered a severe neck injury at a playground when a 73-year-old man allegedly attacked her with a pocketknife, has initiated a $50 million lawsuit against the accused. The lawsuit claims that the man, driven by disturbing fantasies, carried out the attack in plain view of the child’s family and friends.

Attorney Nabih Ayad, representing the family, described the accused as a “monster” in the 10-page legal document submitted to Wayne County Circuit Court. This filing comes slightly over a year after the incident at Lloyd H. Ryan Playground in Dearborn, where Gary Lansky allegedly assaulted Saida Mashrah.

The lawsuit underscores that Lansky has been deemed fit for trial after a thorough assessment by mental health experts, meaning he comprehends the gravity of his actions. “Lansky has now been adjudicated competent to stand criminal trial,” the document states, highlighting his awareness and responsibility for the alleged crime.

In relation to the October 8, 2024, incident, Lansky faces charges of assault with intent to murder and felonious assault. The allegations detail how Lansky approached Saida at the park, lifted her head, and inflicted the injury using a pocketknife. The child, accompanied by her grandmother, was among other children enjoying the playground at the time.

The complaint describes how Lansky purportedly drove from his Detroit residence to Ryan Park with the intent of harming a child, unbeknownst to Saida and her grandmother. It emphasizes the premeditated nature of the attack, suggesting he envisioned the violent act amidst onlookers.

“Upon seeing [Saida], defendant Gary Lansky parked his van and, without hesitation, walked up … grabbed her by the chin, yanked back her head, with one hand and with the other manifested his sadistic fantasy,” the complaint alleges. “He dragged his knife across [Saida’s] delicate neck, opening it. Blood gushed out from [Saida’s] throat, but Lansky was not satisfied. He then attempted to gut little [Saida] by ramming his blade into her stomach.”

As the attack unfolded, Saida “miraculously” fell from Lansky’s grasp and landed on her back before the knife could pierce her, according to the complaint. She allegedly kicked Lansky before managing to flee.

“[Saida] scurried away from her attacker and driven completely by unthinking terror, sprinted the entire way to her home while holding her neck wound with her hands to avoid bleeding out,” the complaint recounts. “[Lansky] ran to his van and fled the park, no doubt in the hopes of being able to strike again at a random time.”

A neighbor who heard Saida screaming in pain told the ABC affiliate WXYZ that she immediately grabbed gauze pads to help stop the bleeding as the girl told her, “Oh, I’m going to die, and nobody is going to be here with me.” The girl’s mother, Amirah Sharhan, described the horrifying aftermath at a press conference on Wednesday.

“Mommy, somebody cut my throat,” Sharhan recalled Saida saying to her after running home. “We sleep in one bedroom now. Me and my three children. That’s how scared we are.”

Police responded to the home at about 3:45 p.m. and found Saida being treated by medics before she was hospitalized. Lansky was arrested later that day.

“I feel scared and I don’t want to go to school anymore … [or] outside alone,” Saida told reporters on Wednesday. “When I sleep, I feel like the guy is coming back for me, and I feel like when I wake up, I feel like someone is trying to break into our house. Sometimes I get so scared that I have to take a break with a teacher.”

Saida added, “When I grow up I want to be a lawyer so I can let him stay in jail.”

Lansky’s wife told the Detroit Free Press after the attack that her husband had a mental illness, without elaborating. But Saida’s family says that has now been disproven, given the court’s decision to find him mentally competent to stand trial. They have also called for the incident to be labeled a hate crime due to Saida’s Muslim heritage. Prosecutors have said they did not have sufficient evidence to warrant hate crime charges.

“You’d think this is some kind of scary Halloween movie. But for Saida and her family this is real life,” Ayad told reporters. “Absolutely horrific. It is horrific. And for anyone to just blow this off as if it’s just another attempted murder is outrageous.”