Mom faces murder charge after 5-year-old daughter found stabbed, NC deputies say

A 5-year-old girl was found stabbed to death early Sunday in a rural North Carolina home, and her mother has been arrested as the suspect, according to the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office.

Penny Short Hartle, 50, of Hendersonville, is charged with second degree murder in the case, the sheriff’s office said in a news release. The area is about 110 miles west of uptown Charlotte.

Investigators did not release the identity of the child.

The incident happened around 8:45 a.m. Sunday at a home in the 200 block of Fiesta Lane. The neighborhood is in the unincorporated Fruitland community, northeast of Hendersonville, officials said.

“Once officers and emergency personnel arrived at the residence, it was determined the victim ... had succumbed to the injuries,” officials said in the release.

Crime scene tape was put up at five different sites, “outside several homes,” WLOS reported.

A 911 call made around 7:40 a.m. that morning by a nearby resident reported Hartle walked into their home, got into their bed and “passed out,” station WYFF reported. The same homeowner reported the intruder got up and walked out about 10 minutes later, the station said.

Investigators have not said what led to the stabbing or how the girl’s mother came to be a suspect. The stabbing was “an isolated incident,” and others in the neighborhood were not in danger, officials said in a Facebook post.

Hartle was given no bond and her first court appearance is Monday, officials said.

This story was originally published April 25, 2021 at 6:23 PM with the headline "Mom faces murder charge after 5-year-old daughter found stabbed, NC deputies say."