Man arrested for stabbing girlfriend, daughter, deputies say

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — An Orange County man is behind bars after weeks on the run for attacking his girlfriend and her daughter, deputies said.

A judge slapped Milton Martinez-Pinales with an $80,000 bond Wednesday morning after he was driven back to Florida from New York, where he was captured.

Investigators said he showed up at his girlfriend’s apartment and accused her of cheating on him. Warrants said Pinales stabbed the girlfriend twice, including in the neck, before her daughter jumped in between them. She received a stab wound in her hand before he fled.

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Pinales is facing three charges: attempted murder, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and aggravated child abuse with a deadly weapon. In addition to the bond, Pinales was ordered to stay away from the victims and unsupervised children. He remained behind bars as of Wednesday afternoon.

Former neighbors described him as a quiet man who kept to himself and took walks around the community. The victims told investigators they lived with Pinales for a while, but moved out prior to the attack.

“Living in an abusive relationship is hard, but leaving an abusive relationship is possibly even harder,” Harbor House’s Laura Lucy said. “If you’ve moved out, you’ve moved on. They’ve lost that power and control over you and they want it back.”

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From 1998 to 2018, Florida had a declining number of domestic violence cases, despite the growing population. The trends reversed at the start of the pandemic.

“We are still seeing our hotline calls increasing every week,” Lucy said.

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For people looking to leave an abusive situation, Lucy recommended contacting Harbor House to create a safety plan. That could involve removing kids and pets from bad situations as well.

Lucy said most days, more than half of the people in their shelters were under the age of 18.

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“When there’s abuse in the home, no one is safe,” she said.

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