A Pinellas County man pleaded guilty Tuesday to brutally attacking and almost killing his ex-girlfriend.
Robert Burton changed his plea following a hearing that deemed him competent for trial.
Burton pleaded guilty to the first-degree attempted murder of Melissa Dohme.
“I’m in shock that just happened that turn of events in a matter of a moment I mean it’s shocking but it’s all amazing and wonderful and it’s just what we wanted,” said Melissa Dohme, domestic violence survivor.
Dohme faced Burton as she took the stand during his competency hearing Tuesday. Her family and friends filled the courtroom with support.
Burton never looked at Dohme, but it’s a moment she thought about a lot over the last two years. She said it’s still hard to forget that January night when the man she once called her boyfriend stabbed her 32 times.
“The last time I saw him was when he was walking away with the knife in his hand and I was laying in the road lifeless and no one else was around,” she said.
Dohme needed seven blood transfusions. She flat lined several times.
That’s why Dohme said she already won her fight, she survived. The rest is up to the courts.
“I have to like separate myself from that I am here I am a live my fight’s over, I won and this is the court’s fight,” she said.
Dohme’s life goes on with her loved ones and her new boyfriend, a firefighter from the night of her attack.
She hopes though the judge will give Burton the maximum sentence. She wants him to spend the rest of his life in prison so he cannot hurt anyone else.
No date has been set for Burton’s sentencing. He faces anywhere from eight years to life in prison.