Suspect Arrested in North Carolina Broad-Daylight Stabbing of Pregnant Mom | Crime Alert 04.02.2026

This is an I Heart podcast. Guaranteed human. Crime Alert, hourly update, breaking crime news now. I'm Sydney Sumner. A North Carolina repeat offender arrested in Florida for allegedly stabbing a pregnant mom with a steak knife in what police are calling a random attack. The Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department announced the arrest of Marvina Butler Hardy, accused of stabbing a pregnant woman in the parking lot of the Harris-Teter grocery store in Cotswold on March 18th. We need medical. Honk how we're at the sheer and amity Harris-Teter. It's always just stabbed by someone. They got out of their car and stabbed them. She's pregnant. And you're pregnant? She's pregnant. A bystander called 911 after witnessing the attack with officers responding to a stabbing report. The pregnant woman sustained non-life-threatening injuries and is expected to make a full recovery. According to law enforcement, Butler Hardy had no connection to the victim. This time it appears that the victim and the suspect did not know each other and had no prior interaction. Officers allege Butler approached the female victim outside the grocery store at approximately 11.30 a.m. The 38-year-old mother says she was getting her toddler out of their car seat when Butler Hardy, who pulled out of the space behind her, stopped her car, got out, cursed, and attacked her with a knife. Quote, I was facing my toddler getting him out of his seat and thankfully turned around and she was coming at me with a steak knife. I pushed and kicked and screamed and thankfully I think that scared her off. The victim suffered a stab wound to her sternum, but she and her unborn child are okay. Following the seemingly random attack, CMPD released surveillance video of the suspect, later identified as Butler and a be on the lookout for her vehicle. One of the windows is taped up and it's also missing a hubcap. On Monday, a Florida State Highway Patrol trooper spotted a silver Hyundai matching CMPD's description traveling south on I-95. The trooper pulled Butler Hardy over and she gave him an ID card instead of a license. When asked why, she reportedly said her license was suspended. The trooper checked with another who confirmed Butler Hardy was the suspect in the Cotswolds' stabbing. She was promptly arrested on charges of assault with a deadly weapon and battery on an unborn child. She's now behind bars at the Flagler County Jail, awaiting extradition to Mecklenburg County. Records show Butler Hardy has a lengthy rap sheet of nine prior convictions, six felonies and three misdemeanors tied to theft-related offenses, along with more recent convictions for firearm possession and misconduct in custody. Butler Hardy last regained freedom in April of last year and completed probation requirements earlier this year. The victim telling WSOC TV, she is shocked Butler Hardy is free to roam the streets, but grateful she is behind bars once again. Well, I'm hoping this charge is enough to keep her behind bars, that's for sure. The amount of mug shots you see of this woman, you wouldn't think that she would be on the streets. More crime and justice news after this. In Chicago, Mayor Brandon Johnson under fire for his comments that the city must stop assaults on immigrants the same day college freshmen Sheridan Gorman was buried, shot dead by Venezuelan national, Jose Medina Medina on March 19th. Johnson made his initial comment Saturday afternoon at a Windy City No Kings rally to MS Now. We have to end the assaults against immigrants. We have to get active. We have to make sure that we're participating in our democratic process. We've already seen elections shift around this country, so things are happening. We have signed multiple executive orders to force ICE out of the city of Chicago. The statement drew heavy criticism coming on the same day New York parents Thomas and Jessica Gorman buried their youngest daughter. Sheridan, a freshman at Loyola University, was just a four minute walk from campus with friends, hoping to catch a glimpse of the northern lights over Lake Michigan when Medina appeared from behind a lighthouse, his face hidden behind a ski mask and open fire on the college students. Ms. Sheridan Gorman was kind of just the first in the group and the person they ran into shot her. So one shot and killed her. Just tragic. The other students ran, the shooter fled. Alderwoman Maria Haddon also facing scrutiny over her implication, the group should not have been out at such a late hour. A lot of young people come out here after dark. Weather's milder, we see that more as the spring and summer comes along. They were kind of down at the end of the pier, seems they stumbled onto someone. Medina currently hospitalized receiving treatment for tuberculosis he was exposed to in a migrant shelter when he arrived in the US in 2023. According to his attorney, Medina spent several months in Texas under border patrol detention before he was bussed to Chicago as a result of their sanctuary city policies. Though the Texas governor's office claims to have no record of busing Medina anywhere. Medina's attorney claims he grew up in Venezuela and was forced to flee to Columbia with his mother when the government threatened to seize their home. In 2018, the attorney says Medina was shot in the head during a robbery and sustained severe damage to his frontal lobe, resulting in developmental delays, including an inability to read or write. A prominent limp, also an alleged result of the 2018 robbery, helped police track Medina on surveillance footage from the side of the shooting all the way to his home where he was arrested just under 48 hours after killing Sheridan. Prior to the shooting, Medina had only been on law enforcement's radar once since his release in Chicago for shoplifting from a Macy's. Medina released on bail for the misdemeanor offense, however, he never returned to court and there was an active warrant for his arrest at the time of the shooting. In a Tuesday press conference, when asked if Johnson would like to apologize to the Gorman family, the mayor only doubled down on his original statement. Would you like to take this opportunity to apologize to the parents of Sheridan Gorman? Here's what I'll do. Again, I will again acknowledge the tragedy of the loss of life here. Baring a child is something that no parent should have to do. The tragedy that occurred is one that, by frankly, it challenges us to do better, to ensure that we are protecting people. And as far as the call for no-keens, what I said, and I still stand by this, we do have to ensure that the immigrant community is not being assaulted, violating people's constitutional rights that doesn't make us safer. The Gorman family releasing a statement condemning Johnson's stance and what they characterize as a blame game. Quote, we are not interested in political arguments or in watching responsibility shift from one place to another. If there were failures, as the governor himself has acknowledged, then every one of them must be identified, examined and addressed directly. The location of those failures matters less than the willingness to confront them honestly. Our daughter is not a policy debate. She is a life that was taken, and that demands accountability. Medina is next expected in court on April 15th, though it's unclear if he will be well enough to attend in person. For the latest crime injustice breaking news, be sure to follow the Crime Alert hourly update on your favorite podcast app. With this crime alert, I'm Sydney Sumner.