Dad stabs woman criticizing his kids’ behavior at grocery store, FL cops say

A dad grabbed a knife off a shelf at a Florida grocery store and stabbed a woman during an altercation stemming from criticism of his kids’ behavior, authorities said.

Now, a judge has sentenced 40-year-old Jammacar Gayle to 12 years in prison after a jury convicted him of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon or causing great bodily harm, the State Attorney’s Office for the 20th Judicial Circuit announced April 14.

Gayle’s attorney, Diane Gonzalez, told McClatchy News that Gayle was remorseful and broke down on the stand when testifying.

“He doesn’t have a record, he’s a family person,” Gonzalez said, adding Gayle felt threatened during the altercation. “It was way out of his character.”

A woman was standing in line at the meat counter at Milan Supermarket in Port Charlotte on June 9, 2023, when she confronted a couple about their children’s behavior, a detective with the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office wrote in an arrest affidavit.

Surveillance footage showed Gayle standing back as the woman argued with his partner, then the woman left and came back, deputies said.

Arguing again, the women started pushing each other as Gayle stepped in, according to a detective.

The victim pushed Gayle, who’s then accused of grabbing a cast iron pan off a shelf and swinging it at the woman.

Gayle’s daughter grabbed the pan and the store owner tried to intervene, but Gayle grabbed an 8-inch chef’s knife off the shelf, pulled it out of the package and slashed the woman several times, deputies said.

The family left the store as the woman lay “bleeding profusely” from gashes on her head and her abdomen, deputies said.

She was flown to a trauma center.

Prosecutors accused Gayle of throwing away his bloody clothes at home and driving to New York, where he was arrested by U.S. Marshals.

Gonzalez said Gayle wasn’t fleeing to New York, but rather was taking his son up there to stay with his mom before turning himself in.

A jury convicted him in March after a three-day trial, prosecutors said, but Gonzalez shared they’re planning to appeal.

Port Charlotte is about a 35-mile drive northwest from Fort Myers.