A Michigan man has been sentenced to several years in prison after attacking a 7-year-old girl, slashing her throat and attempting to stab her in the stomach while at a park.

On Thursday, 74-year-old Gary Lansky admitted guilt but was deemed mentally ill in connection with charges of assault with intent to murder and assault with a dangerous weapon, as per Wayne County court documents.

Following his admission, 36th District Court Judge Malaika D. Ramsey sentenced Lansky to a term of seven to 15 years in prison for the brutal attack on young Saida Mashrah, which left her seriously injured and emotionally scarred.

Lansky also received a separate sentence of one to four years for an unrelated assault involving a family member. Both sentences will be served concurrently.

During the court proceedings, the young victim courageously spoke about the life-threatening incident, detailing its impact on her life, as reported by the Detroit-based Fox affiliate WJBK.

“I feel scared, nervous, and after this accident happened to me, I didn’t want to go to sleep and I didn’t want to go to the park and I didn’t want to do anything,” Saida said. “I felt like I was stuck in the house not doing anything. Just playing with my toys and watching TV, not doing anything. I felt like if I go outside somebody would try to take me in their van. I feel like if I went outside someone would try to drag me … kill me.”

The underlying incident occurred on Oct. 8, 2024, in the middle of the day, at Ryan Park in the Warrendale neighborhood of the Motor City.

Lansky approached Saida while she was playing, lifted her face and cut her throat with a pocketknife, Law&Crime previously reported. The girl screamed and kicked at her attacker before running home — where a neighbor quickly applied gauze pads to stop the bleeding.

“He just came out of nowhere and slid the knife on me,” Saida told WJBK at the time.

As the neighbor applied pressure to the deep wounds on her neck, the child said: “Oh, I’m going to die, and nobody is going to be here with me,” according to Detroit-based ABC affiliate WXYZ.

At the scene of the crime, bystanders eventually intervened and restrained Lansky until law enforcement arrived that afternoon.

Ultimately, Saida received three stitches to patch her wounds.

The girl’s family later filed a $50 million civil lawsuit over the attack.

“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 10-page complaint reads. “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 progressed, Saida “miraculously” fell from Lansky’s grasp and landed on her back before the knife could pierce her stomach, according to the lawsuit filed in Wayne County Circuit Court.

On Thursday, Saida finally trailed off as her voice gave way to tears. But for her family, the proceedings were simply too much.

A statement was read in court on her mother’s behalf.

“Since that day, nothing has been the same,” the statement reads. “My daughter still smiles sometimes, but it’s not the same smile. It is the kind of smile that hides tears. Behind it she is broken inside. I try to be strong for her but every night when I hear her crying I break a little inside, too.”

Local civil rights leaders criticized how the case was handled by authorities, upset over the lack of a hate crime enhancement.

“This was not a random act of violence, this was a tragic, vicious attack,” Arab American Civil Rights League Executive Director Mariam Charara said at a press conference earlier this fall, according to The Detroit News. “[Saida] and her family were visibly different in that park. We know that if the tables were turned and it were an Arab American man that committed this act, there would be no hesitation in how this case would be prosecuted.”

The defendant, for his part, offered a brief allocution during the sentencing hearing.

“I’d like to say how sorry I am to the family for what I’ve done,” Lansky said.