Photos: SWAT surrounds townhome after dad stabs 4-year-old (While the story refuses to identify Pruitt’s relationship to his little victim, the photo caption and code title—“Father-barricaded-inside-SW-Houston-townhome-after-brutally-stabbing-4-year-old-138651189.html”—tell a different story.)
HPD: 4-year-old girl stabbing victim expected to survive
By KHOU.com staff & Larry Seward
KHOU 11 News
Posted on February 3, 2012 at 11:29 a.m.
Updated yesterday at 5:30 p.m.
HOUSTON – The man who brutally stabbed a 4-year-old girl Friday morning was later found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to Houston police.
Witnesses say Decorory Montrael Pruitt had a butcher’s knife and was arguing with the girl’s mother.
The woman was holding her daughter when Pruitt slashed the child’s throat from her ear to her chin. Police believe he meant to attack the woman, but hurt the child instead.
Simone Taylor was taken to Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital where she is expected to survive.
The stabbing happened at the Cattails townhomes at 6345 Cattails around 10 a.m. Pruitt fled the scene but police spotted his vehicle and chased it to another townhome in the 7900 block of West Airport.
"I was just pulling in and I had to pull over cause they were chasing him in here," said Quedia Daniels, who lives in the complex. [N.S.: Daniels is a woman who appears to be in her late twenties or early thirties.]
SWAT officers surrounded the townhome and tried to negotiate. They went inside around 12:30 p.m. and found the suspect dead.
"I heard the gunshot," Daniels said. "It was only one shot."
Neighbors say Pruitt was dating Simone's mother. They say the suspect told them
Thursday that he was moving in with the woman and her children. Police haven't confirmed the relationship.
It’s not clear if Simone is his daughter.
The brutal attack shook up neighbors who gathered at the scene.
"It’s scary. I’m not used to this," said Tashae Thomas. "I don’t see this every day." [Tashae Thomas is a little boy, who appears to be 10 or 11 years old.]
Police aren't commenting about a possible motive.
[Thanks to reader-researcher RC for this story.]
No comments:
Post a Comment