South Carolina deputies found two young siblings alone and severely wounded after their mother allegedly stabbed them 50 times, and their grandmother says the boy tried to save his sister.
On September 26, Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office deputies answered a welfare check at a home roughly 35 miles east of Greenville. Inside they found 6-year-old Dawson and his 3-year-old sister Hazel suffering multiple stab and cut wounds from a kitchen knife.
The U.S. Sun reported the children had been left alone with those injuries while the house sat in disarray, smashed television sets and shattered mirrors among the wreckage. Both kids reached the hospital in stable condition and are expected to survive. Dawson faces a far harder road: authorities said he will likely lose one arm and fingers.
Their mother, 35-year-old Taylor Gosnell, was later charged with two counts of attempted murder and held without bond. Her next court date is set for November 12.
Responding deputies located the siblings inside the Spartanburg County home with severe cuts down to the bone. The knife attack left the pair with wounds authorities described as numbering about 50 in total.
Gosnell returned to the residence while investigators worked the scene. She spoke rapidly and appeared distressed. When crews moved her toward an ambulance for a mental health evaluation, she allegedly tried to flee and had to be restrained to a stretcher.
After medical clearance she was arrested on the two attempted-murder counts. She remains locked up without bond.
Jan Marie Mull, 59, is Dawson and Hazel’s grandmother. She learned the children had been rushed to the hospital and described the moment the news hit her.
Mull told the paper:
“I couldn’t breathe. Honest to God, I could not breathe. I was freaking floored,”
She said medicine is keeping Dawson sedated while doctors weigh amputation. Mull believes the uneven injury pattern tells its own story.
She said:
“The only thing I can visualize why Dawson had more injuries than Hazel was Dawson was trying to protect Hazel,”
Mull added that the boy “takes after my son in that department” and “has that kind of love for everybody.” Dawson’s father, Blake, died in 2020. In her view the 6-year-old was simply trying to shield his little sister.
Mull said she had never seen Gosnell beat or mistreat the children and never noticed bruises or other marks on them.
She stated:
“I’ve never known her to beat or abuse these kids. I’ve never seen him have any signs of abuse when I’ve seen him. There was no abuse or anything that we saw.”
“No bruises, nothing. I don’t know what happened.” She also said she cannot understand how anyone could do this to children, not only her grandchildren, but any child.
The grandmother described her own internal conflict in blunt terms:
“I’m going to be honest, the grandma side of me wants to put a bullet right between her eyes. But the Christian side of me wants to forgive her. So, I’m kind of on a line here.”
Gosnell faces two counts of attempted murder. She is held without bond. The next scheduled appearance is November 12. Officials have not publicly detailed a motive, and Mull said she does not know what triggered the attack.
Both children remain in stable condition. Dawson’s injuries are the most severe; doctors are evaluating amputation of an arm and fingers. Hazel, 3, is also expected to survive. The welfare-check call that brought deputies to the home is what pulled the siblings out of immediate danger.
A 6-year-old should never have to stand between a kitchen knife and his baby sister. The justice system now owes these kids a full and sober accounting.
