Dad Hears Daughter's Cries on Baby Monitor — Then Finds Her Dying from a Slit Throat
A 3-year-old Kentucky girl is dead after her uncle allegedly slit her throat in front of her siblings last week, PEOPLE confirms.
Josephine Bulubenchi was playing with four of her brothers and sisters on Saturday afternoon when Emanuel Fluter, her maternal uncle, allegedly grabbed her and slashed her throat.
According to Clinton County Sheriff Jim Guffey, the girl’s father heard her screams through a baby monitor and ran into the room to find that his brother-in-law had attacked his daughter.
Josephine’s dad was injured as he tried to disarm Fluter, authorities say. Josephine was rushed to the hospital and died the following day.
Fluter, 33, has been charged with murder. He is being held in lieu of $1 million bond.
According to local TV station WKYT, Fluter was initially charged with two counts of first-degree assault and four counts of wanton endangerment. When Josephine died, those charges were upgraded to murder.
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When Fluter was first taken into custody, he was allegedly too combative and violent for authorities to get him to take a mugshot, local station WYMT reports.
Speaking with reporters, Sheriff Guffey called Josephine’s death “the most horrendous crime” he had encountered during his 15 years on the job.
A GoFundMe has been set up to support the Bulubenchi family and help them transport Josephine’s body to Michigan for a funeral.
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“And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart,” the page states, quoting Galatians 6:9 from the Bible. “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith. God bless everyone.”
Fluter has not entered a plea and it is unclear whether he has hired an attorney.
