Fund Set up For 8-Year-Old Stabbing Victim

A fund has been set up for an 8-year-old girl who was stabbed 26 times during an assault in San Marcos earlier this week.

On Tuesday morning, San Diego sheriff’s deputies were called to a home on North Twin Oaks Valley Road by a man reporting that his mother and 8-year-old sister had been repeatedly stabbed.

When officials arrived, they discovered the woman – 41-year-old mother Antonia Duran (pictured above) – dead inside the home. The young girl was in critical condition and transported to Rady Children’s Hospital.

Shortly thereafter investigators arrested suspect Daniel Hernandez, 28, in connection with the fatal stabbing. Officials said Hernandez was a friend of Duran’s, but did not provide specifics on their relationship. He’s been charged with Duran’s murder and the attempted murder of her daughter.

In an arraignment Thursday, prosecutors revealed the brutality of the attack. They said Hernandez had allegedly slashed Duran’s throat and stabbed her 22 times. He also allegedly stabbed the child 26 times.

Duran’s daughter was sleeping inside the home during the attack but prosecutors said she woke up and screamed, “Leave my mom alone!” She then became a victim in Hernandez’s stabbing rampage.

Deputies found Hernandez at a laundromat hours after the assault washing his bloodied clothes and shoes.

He’s now being held at Vista Detention Facility on $5 million bail and is considered an “extreme danger to society,” according to prosecutors. Hernandez also has a criminal history of assault and burglary. He’s scheduled to appear in court again on Dec. 28.

The young girl, whose name has not been released, is still recovering at the hospital, but is expected to survive her injuries, officials said. As of Thursday, she was in a medically-induced coma at Rady Children’s Hospital.

So far, the girl’s family has set up two funds for her and her siblings at Chase Bank under the name “Duran Kids.”

All donations collected will go directly to the young victim and Duran’s other surviving children as they cope with the sudden death of their mother.

Donations can be made under the following account numbers at Chase Bank: #3016833591, an account set up for all of Duran’s children, and #963522594, an account set up specifically for the young stabbing victim.