ST. CLOUD, Fla. — Police on Thursday identified a 21-year-old man who was fatally shot by an officer after he allegedly stabbed a 9-year-old girl in the face and upper body on Tuesday
- Jahsean Iandie Hodge named as stabbing suspect
- St Cloud officer who fatally shot Hodge identified
- Police say DCF helping aggressively investigate
Police named Jahsean Iandie Hodge as the suspect. St. Cloud police also released recordings of 911 calls placed after the attack.
Veronica Snyder told Spectrum News 13 on Tuesday that her daughter may lose an eye.
“The 9 year old victim remains hospitalized with substantial injuries,” St. Cloud police said in a statement Thursday.
Dispatchers received two 911 calls at 12:45 p.m. Tuesday about the attack, and the first officers arrived one minute later.
A witness told responding officers about a “suspect acting very erratically” and running through several backyards.
Officers spotted a person matching the suspect’s description at 12:50 p.m. near Georgia and 3rd Street.
“Upon attempting to detain the suspect, a confrontation ensued with a St. Cloud police officer, (who) subsequently used deadly force and shot the suspect,” St Cloud Police Chief Pete Gauntlett told reporters Tuesday.
Only one officer opened fire, police said Thursday.
Officer Devin Dunn, hired by the agency on Dec. 6, 2019, is on administrative leave as the Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigates the fatal police shooting.
St. Cloud police are continuing to investigate the stabbing and Hodge’s alleged crime spree Tuesday. The Florida Department of Children and Families is assisting.
“The St. Cloud Police Department continues to aggressively investigate the vicious attack of the 9 year old victim, as well as collect extensive evidence in this incident,” Thursday’s statement said.
The victim’s mother says she was downstairs in their apartment on Georgia Avenue in St. Cloud when she heard shouting coming from an upstairs room in their apartment where her daughter was.
"That’s when I found my daughter covered in blood ... I couldn’t even recognize her," she described.
The girl, who suffered fractures to her face, was rushed to St. Cloud hospital by family members and then taken to Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children in Orlando in critical condition.
Snyder, the girl's mother, told Spectrum News 13 that she hopes her daughter will have some quality of life post-operation.
“I don’t want her to look in the mirror every day for the rest of her life — and say, 'Look at all these scars — for what?'” Snyder said.
Hodge’s criminal past includes three cases in Osceola County, two of them closed.
At the time of his death, Hodge was being prosecuted for allegedly leaving the scene of an accident with property damage at Fortune and Simpson roads in Kissimmee at 11:31 p.m. March 3.
He was previously charged with misdemeanor battery for allegedly getting into a verbal and physical altercation with an unidentified girlfriend - the mother of his child – where she worked. That was at a Walmart at 2125 Nolte Road in St. Cloud at 1:35 p.m. March 31, 2019.
At the time, their daughter was 6 months old. They were dating but not living together.
Outside the store, they argued about allegations of cheating and started fighting. At one point, the girlfriend fell and Hodge allegedly pushed her down twice, according to a police report.
Prosecutors later dropped the charge, closing the case.
Before that, Hodge, then 19, was charged with possession of less than 20 grams of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia – both misdemeanors.
He was arrested during a traffic stop on 12:42 a.m. November 18, 2017 at Sandbagger Drive and Stinger Drive in the Champions Gate community of Osceola County.
Then a student at Osceola High School, Hodge was in the front passenger seat of a 2014 Dodge Durango pulled over for driving without headlights on at night.
A deputy smelled marijuana and found a burnt marijuana cigarette and 14 grams of marijuana in a jar under the driver’s seat.
The State Attorney’s Office didn’t pursue the marijuana possession charge against Hodge.
Hodge entered a guilty plea to the drug paraphernalia charge and was sentenced to one year of probation on January 16, 2018.
A month later, he was accused of violating the terms of his probation by failing to provide evidence he completed a drug evaluation by February 16, 2018 and failing to provide proof he completed at least 10 of 50 hours of community service.
He skipped a violation of probation hearing and a warrant was issued for his arrest on March 9, 2018. He was arrested in November 2018.
He admitted to the violations on July 22, 2019 and was sentenced to 120 days in jail. The judge gave him credit for 60 days he already served in jail.