Knife-wielding man charged in attack on two girls, ages 7 and 15

A 24-year-old man was charged in Auburn Friday after two girls, ages 7 and 15, were cut and repeatedly stabbed in the 200 block of Jennings Street in Valley, Ala., authorities said.

Jasper Irvin Berry was taken into custody on two counts of attempted murder about 10:44 a.m. EST, Maj. Mike Reynolds said in a release. Berry was processed at the Valley Police Department and later taken to the Chambers County Detention Facility for a bond hearing.

The 7-year-old girl was airlifted to Egleston’s Children Hospital in Atlanta after she was found bleeding with a cut to the base of her skull and lying in the driveway. The teen girl was found with multiple stab wounds to her upper torso, back, arms and head before she was taken to East Alabama Medical Center-Lanier in Valley and later transferred to Grady Hospital in Atlanta. Emergency Medical Services from Valley and Lanett treated both girls.

Reynolds said Berry came to the home at 1 a.m. looking for the sister of the teen and mother of the younger girl when he became enraged after the woman wasn’t there. After he was directed by the teen to leave, Berry is accused of attacking her with some type of cutting instrument. She was able to reach her grandfather’s room before the attacker left the home.

During the search for Berry, Reynolds said he was driving a 2012 gray Dodge Avenger with an Alabama tag. He is 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighs 185 pounds.

This story was originally published July 13, 2018 at 2:31 PM.