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Sharon C. Key (IMPD) and the Days Inn where she allegedly stabbed her 1-year-old niece (YouTube/WXIN screenshot)
A 32-year-old woman in Indiana is facing multiple felonies for allegedly trying to stab her dog for stealing her chicken sandwich only to miss and accidentally stab her 1-year-old niece in the neck.
Sharon C. Key was taken into custody on Wednesday and 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, court records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
According to a probable cause affidavit, officers with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department shortly before 11 p.m. on Tuesday responded to a call regarding an injured toddler at the Days Inn located in the 8300 block of Craig Street. Upon arriving at the scene, first responders said they immediately located a 1-year-old girl who was suffering from what appeared to be a stab wound to the neck.
Emergency medical personnel rushed the child to the Riley Hospital for Children for treatment. Indianapolis Fox affiliate WXIN reported that the child was initially admitted to the facility in critical condition but was later upgraded to stable condition.
The child’s mother, who is also Key’s sister, told investigators that Key called her at about 10 a.m. that morning and asked if she could stay with her at the Days Inn. Key was dropped off at the hotel later that morning and drank alcohol for “most of the day.”
At about 10:30 p.m. that evening, the sisters went to Burger King and arrived back at the hotel around 20 minutes later and went up to their double-bed room. The mother said she laid her daughter down on her stomach atop the bed closest to the window and went into the bathroom to give her son a bath.
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.”
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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.
Officers found Key hiding in some bushes near the hotel and placed her under arrest. In an interview with detectives, Key allegedly said that her pit bull had taken the chicken sandwich she got at Burger King and eaten it. Key then became “mad” and allegedly went after the dog with her knife. The dog then jumped on the bed where the victim was laying while trying to avoid Key. In an attempt to stab the dog, Key allegedly said that she missed, accidentally hitting her niece instead of the animal.
The victim’s grandfather, Tracy Griffin, told WXIN that he wants Key “to be held accountable for this.”
“My granddaughter will scarred for the rest of her life,” Griffin told the station. “She should have known that baby was sitting right there. I want the book thrown at her.”
Key is scheduled to appear in court again at 9 a.m. on Friday, records show.
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