David James Gifford: Man Accused Of Stabbing Woman, Then Forcing Her 2-Year-Old To Stab And Kick Her
David James Gifford is behind bars after police say the 36-year-old man stabbed his girlfriend, then forced her 2-year-old child to stab her as well.
The incident took place in Burley, Idaho, where police said they were called to a mobile home to find the man running from the residence. As MagicValley.com reported, sheriff’s deputies found Ashley Watkins lying on a couch with stab wounds on her back and her clothing covered in blood. The badly hurt woman told police that Gifford was pulling her around the home by the hair and tried to choke her, then punched and kicked her before stabbing her with a knife.
The incident only grew more gruesome from there. After David James Gifford stabbed the woman, police said he told her 2-year-old son to stab her with the knife, telling the woman that he was going to have the toddler “kill her.”
“He started screaming ‘stab mom, stab mommy,'” Watkins told KMVT. “So my son stabbed me.”
The toddler ended up stabbing his mother twice in the right shoulder, the report noted. The wounds she suffered were reportedly not life-threatening.
Police found scenes of a struggle throughout the home, including a broken television and shattered light bulbs.
Watkins said she was left scarred by the incident and said it will be difficult for either her or her son to recover from the trauma they endured.
“I’m never going to be the same after this, my son I’m sure is not going to be the same after this and it’s not right,” the victim told KMVT.
The attack was reminiscent of another incident that took place a few weeks prior. In Tennessee, a 10-year-old boy fatally stabbed himself while his mother was choking him and beating him with an extension cord. Police in Memphis said they arrived to find the boy bleeding from his chest, Fox News reported. The boy was rushed to a hospital but declared dead.
Mother Charged After 10-Year-Old Son Fatally Stabs Himself Due to Abuse https://t.co/fmLpHeA7FZ pic.twitter.com/RWihChkgap
— DJ Vlad ?? (@djvlad) November 2, 2017
The boy’s mother, Robin McKinzie, was charged with aggravated child abuse and jailed on $100,000 bond.
David James Gifford has been charged with felony counts of domestic battery, injury to a child and attempted strangulation. He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
