STEPHENVILLE, Texas (AP) _ Authorities say a mother watching her two young children play in a north Texas city park was approached from behind by a man who stabbed her in the back and quickly walked away.
Stephenville police Chief Roy Halsell said the alleged attack on Brandi Janell Todd of Morgan Mill on Sunday afternoon in Stephenville City Park was apparently unprovoked. He says several witnesses followed a suspect from the park, and one pointed him out walking near the park.
Michael Allen Howard of Stephenville is in the Erath County Jail with bond set at $750,000, charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
A Harris Methodist Fort Worth hospital spokeswoman lists Todd, 28, in serious condition Tuesday.
In a jail interview, the Howard, 42, tells the Stephenville Empire-Tribune that he’s been a mental hospital patient for 20 years.