A 10-year-old Lauderhill girl was hospitalized Thursday afternoon after her 8-year-old brother threw a knife that struck her in the chest during an argument over a slice of pizza, according to police. The children's mother called authorities after stepping outside briefly and returning to find her daughter running out of their apartment, bleeding.
Police were dispatched to an apartment complex in the 2900 block of Northwest 56th Avenue around 3:30 p.m., according to CBS News. The girl told police she was cutting a pizza when her brother became upset that he had not received his piece, grabbed the knife she was using, and threw it at her, with the blade striking her in the chest.
The children's mother told police she had stepped outside to get the mail when the altercation occurred, and found her daughter running out of the apartment bleeding from her chest. Rescue personnel who responded noted the girl was conscious and breathing, and preliminary police information described her injury as a small cut to her chest.
Girl Taken to Specialized Pediatric Trauma Center
The girl was transported to Broward Health Medical Center, which operates a Level I Pediatric Trauma Center and houses the Salah Foundation Children's Hospital, according to Broward Health. Staffing and operational records show the hospital's Level I pediatric trauma program handles more than 27,000 pediatric visits a year through a dedicated 14-bed pediatric emergency department, per PracticeMatch.
Lauderhill Police Department Criminal Investigations Division detectives were notified of the incident and the investigation remains ongoing. Police have released no additional information beyond the initial details of the dispute and the girl's transport to the hospital.
Why an 8-Year-Old Can Still Face Juvenile Proceedings
Florida law sets the minimum age for juvenile delinquency prosecution at 7, under a statute known as the Kaia Rolle Act, meaning children younger than that cannot be arrested, charged, or adjudicated delinquent unless the offense is a felony of violent force, according to The Florida Legislature. Because the boy is 8, he falls within the age range where law enforcement and prosecutors could open juvenile delinquency proceedings or refer him to the Department of Juvenile Justice, per Fort Lauderdale Criminal Attorney.
At the same time, state law draws a hard line against treating young children like adult defendants. Florida Statute § 985.557 bars prosecutors from direct-filing a juvenile's case into adult criminal court unless the child was at least 14 years old at the time of the offense, according to Online Sunshine, which effectively rules out adult charges in this case regardless of how the investigation proceeds.
Supervision Questions and Mandatory Reporting Rules
Florida's child neglect statute, Fla. Stat. § 827.03, defines neglect as a caregiver's willful failure to provide necessary supervision, but it explicitly protects parents who allow brief, independent, age-appropriate activities unless the conduct is willful, wanton, and endangers a child's safety, per the Florida Senate. Separately, state law under Fla. Stat. § 39.201 requires that any incident in which a minor suffers severe physical injury or endangerment in a home setting be reported to the Department of Children and Families Central Abuse Hotline, according to the Law Office of Russell Knight.
It remains unclear whether the Broward County State Attorney's Office will pursue formal juvenile delinquency diversion for the boy or what DCF investigators will conclude about supervision in the home, questions that remain open as detectives continue their work. A parking dispute turned violent last October when officers detained a suspect and recovered a weapon at the scene, Hoodline reported at the time.
