A one-year-old girl was lying in bed when a Margate man allegedly launched a machete attack on the child’s mother, leaving the woman with severe injuries to her hands and legs. Ruben Altidore, 36, was arrested Monday and is facing attempted felony murder and aggravated child abuse charges.
Officers responding to the home reportedly heard a woman running and screaming that someone was trying to kill her. According to WPLG Local 10, investigators found blood leading from the bedroom through the home and outside, along with a machete sheath in the kitchen and a machete with apparent red smudges beneath a bed.
Suspect Faces Two Serious Felony Counts
Altidore is also charged with violating probation and was being held without bond at the Broward County Main Jail, according to jail records cited by Local 10. Under Florida law, attempted felony murder can be prosecuted as a first-degree felony, while the state’s child-abuse statute classifies aggravated child abuse as a first-degree felony.
The victim told an officer that Altidore struck her repeatedly with the machete and allegedly asked, “Oh my God, why aren’t you dead yet?” The woman suffered a 10-inch wound reaching the bone on her right thigh, deep cuts to both hands and injuries that nearly amputated her left index finger and thumb, as detailed by WPLG Local 10…