A 6-year-old girl is in critical but stable condition at All Children's Hospital after her mother allegedly stabbed her.
Ashley Parker, 29, was taken into police custody after officers arrived at 2109 Leon Ave. in Sarasota about 12:30 p.m. on Friday.
Police said the child's grandparents found her lying on a floor in the hallway, wrapped in a pink blanket that covered up stab wounds to her stomach and leg.
"At this point, the public is not in danger. We do have a suspect in custody. It was unfortunately the child's mother," said Genevieve Judge with the Sarasota Police Department.
The grandfather told police that over the last few days, Parker had a "funny look in her eyes."
He said she was afraid to go outside and that DCF had been to the house on Thursday.
Neighbors said they often saw Parker and her daughter sitting outside on the porch and never noticed anything wrong.
They described the victim as a friendly child.
"She talked back. She'd always holler "hey" at you and stuff, speaking to you and I'd see her riding her bicycle. She was a nice, sweet little girl," said Earnestine Young.
Police say the child told her grandmother it was her mother who stabbed her.
They also said at one point, Parker grabbed a knife on the counter and waved it around as the grandparents called 911.
According to police, Parker tried to leave when officers showed up and they said she became extremely combative.
Police don't have a motive for the stabbing but they said they're hopeful the child will recover.
Parker does have a prior record.
Court documents show in 2010, she pleaded "no contest" to a felony count of child neglect with great harm.