Police say a man was caught and charged with attempted murder after they say he stabbed a transgender girl, 17, with a butcher knife at Miami International Airport on Sunday.
A report from the Miami-Dade Police Department says that 29-year-old Alexander Love was charged with first-degree attempted murder with a deadly weapon and attempted planned murder.
A news statement from the airport said that officers were called to Terminal J around 11:30 p.m. because of reports of a stabbing. Officials say Love struck the victim while she was eating on the floor. He stabbed her about 18 times in the face, head, arms, shoulders, neck, and legs, and then he tried to throw her over a safety glass, officials said.
“The victim was able to escape the attack and ran down the stairs to the third-floor level, which is where the officers found her,” the police said.
Officials say she was taken to a nearby hospital in serious condition and had surgery right away. We didn’t know what her state was on Tuesday afternoon.
As the arrest record says, Love was arrested by the Customs and Border Patrol not long after the attack. Officials say Love admitted to being involved in the attack at the police station and said he knew the victim before the attack.
“The defendant added he was possibly drugged and someone inserted an unknown object in his rectum,” it says. “Although the defendant is not certain the victim is responsible for this, the defendant made a statement indicating he needed to hurt whoever hurt him and was prompted to purchase the knife at a Target store near Miami International Airport.”
The police said they found a knife at the scene.
Online records show that Love was booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center. He might have a lawyer, but it’s not clear.
NBC South Florida reported that he was refused bond in court on Monday and told not to talk to the victim.
A police spokesperson told NBC News that charges of hate crime have not been thrown out because they have not been able to talk to the victim yet.