A 75-year-old Miami-Dade man is behind bars after deputies say he stabbed his sleeping wife in the back, punched her repeatedly, and only stopped attacking her after she wrestled the knife away from him early Tuesday morning. The woman suffered two lacerations to the left side of her back, a laceration to her arm, and a punctured lung, and she was rushed to the hospital for treatment.
Pratapsinh Thakor was arrested by Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office deputies after the attack, which happened at about 1 a.m. Tuesday at the home he shared with his wife, according to WPLG Local 10. Deputies arriving at the scene spotted Thakor holding the victim by the hair before he went back into the bedroom the couple shared, the station reports. Deputies then found the woman outside the apartment, where she had escaped and called 911 herself.
The station's report describes a brutal scene: the woman had a bloody mouth and begged Thakor to stop as he punched her multiple times, on top of the stab wounds to her back. She ultimately managed to take the knife away from him during the struggle. What sparked the attack remains unclear, per the same account, and Thakor has denied any involvement in the stabbing.
Charges Carry Potential Life Sentence
Thakor now faces one count of attempted felony murder causing injury and one count of domestic battery causing harm. Under Florida Statute § 782.051, attempted felony murder involving an intentional act that could cause death is a first-degree felony, meaning Thakor could face up to life in prison if convicted.
He was booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, the county's primary intake facility in Doral where newly arrested felony suspects undergo medical screening, fingerprinting, and initial detention, according to Miami-Dade County. His bond was listed as to be set as of Tuesday. Under Florida law and Miami-Dade Circuit Court procedures, people arrested on domestic violence charges cannot post immediate bail and must remain in custody until a mandatory first-appearance hearing within 24 hours of booking, where a judge sets specific bond conditions, often including a no-contact order.
Victim Taken To Trauma Center
The woman was taken to HCA Florida Aventura Hospital for further evaluation. The facility is a state-designated Level II Trauma Center in northern Miami-Dade County with a 24-hour emergency room and specialized critical care teams built to handle major traumatic injuries like a punctured lung, per HCA Florida Aventura Hospital.
The case adds to a string of severe domestic stabbings Hoodline has tracked across Miami-Dade in recent months, including an August case in Gladeview where a 47-year-old man was accused of stabbing his ex-girlfriend in the back and legs and puncturing her lung, and a June case in Coral Gate where a 40-year-old man allegedly stabbed his girlfriend 34 times. Miami-Dade recorded 7,370 domestic violence offenses in 2024, an offense rate of 267.0 per 100,000 residents, according to FLHealthCHARTS, a rate slightly below Florida's statewide average of 308.5 per 100,000.
Older Adults Often Overlooked As Victims
Thakor's case also underscores a less visible pattern in domestic violence data: abuse among older couples. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that roughly 1 in 10 older adults living at home experience abuse or intimate partner violence each year, a figure the agency notes is likely undercounted because such cases often go unreported due to isolation or dependence on a partner. Records from the Office of the Miami-Dade State Attorney show female victims account for roughly 72% to 73% of domestic violence cases reviewed by county prosecutors annually.
The motive behind Tuesday's attack has not been determined, and it remains unclear when Thakor is next scheduled to appear in court. Hoodline will update this story as more information becomes available.
