John Jefferson
Doris Espinoza-Rodriguez (Osceola County Sheriff’s Office).
A 40-year-old Florida woman will spend at least the next 20 years in prison after a jury found her guilty of stabbing her paramour’s two children.
Doris Espinoza-Rodriguez was convicted of two counts of attempted murder, aggravated child abuse with a weapon and felony battery, according to Ninth Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office. Espinoza-Rodriguez stabbed the two children, a 14-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl, on Jan. 16, 2023, inside an Osceola County home.
Espinoza-Rodriguez testified in her own defense during the four-day trial. During her testimony, she claimed self-defense, saying the kids’ father ordered them to attack her. But the jury didn’t buy her story.
When a judge sentence’s her on Dec. 9, she will face at least 20 years in prison for the felony battery, up to 30 years for the attempted murder charges and up to life for the aggravated child abuse with a weapon counts, prosecutors said.
As Law&Crime previously reported, the incident began with an argument between Espinoza-Rodriguez and her boyfriend when the two were out for dinner.
Prosecutors said in court documents that when she arrived back at the house, Espinoza-Rodriguez “indicated that she wanted to harm herself.” When her boyfriend and his children attempted to calm her down, Espinoza-Rodriguez “produced a knife” and stated that she was going to “go out in a bang,” before attacking all three, the filing states.
Espinoza-Rodriguez stabbed the 14-year-old boy in the “left shoulder and chest area” and the 10-year-old girl “in her left shoulder.”
During the attack, the 14-year-old was able to dial 911 for help. Deputies arrived on the scene minutes later and said the young boy was visibly bleeding when he opened the front door. Deputies then entered the home where they found the boyfriend “holding down” Espinoza-Rodriguez, who they placed under arrest.
As they continued to search the house, deputies found the 10-year-old girl in a bedroom. She was “lying in a pool of blood” from what appeared to be multiple stab wounds, the sheriff’s office said.
Both children sustained “life threatening injuries” and had to be transported via helicopter to the Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children for emergency medical treatment, according to prosecutors.
The boyfriend, who sustained an injury to his hand when he fought and disarmed Espinoza-Rodriguez, showed deputies where he tossed the weapon, which Osceola County Sheriff Marcos Lopez described as a paring knife with a black handle and “blood on the blade.”
Lopez said that Espinoza-Rodriguez began the stabbing spree by attacking the daughter before her older brother stepped in, likely saving her life.
“The 14-year-old tried to intervene, got stabbed, and called 911,” Lopez said. “Even though he was 14-years-old, it’s his sister. He knew her life was in danger and she could actually die. He immediately ran in there, trying to save the life of his little sister, which he probably did, and received stab wounds in the process. He is truly a hero.”
Lopez also described the man and Espinoza-Rodriguez as having a “very odd relationship.” Prosecutors referred to Espinoza-Rodriguez as the man’s “paramour” in a court filing.
“They weren’t really in a relationship where they come home and sleep in the same room together. I believe she rented a room [from her boyfriend] or they every now and again had casual sex,” Lopez said. “It is domestic, but it was like not a relationship where they’re all living as a family.”
Lopez added that the boyfriend “really probably didn’t want anything else to do with her,” which led to the argument.
“Then she just lost it and went nuts,” he said.
Jerry Lambe contributed to this report
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