CCSO: Punta Gorda woman stabs boyfriend with machete, blames ‘demons and the man’

A Punta Gorda woman was arrested Sunday after deputies say she stabbed her live-in boyfriend with a machete while children were present.

According to a probable cause report by the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office, Patricia Holmes told a deputy that “the demons and the man made me do it.”

Deputies went to a home on Shell Creek Court late Saturday and found the victim, identified as Arthur Brady, Holmes’ boyfriend, standing outside in a shirt and jeans covered in blood. He told deputies that Holmes stabbed him with a machete before he was taken to the hospital. The report states Brady suffered a deep slash to his back and minor internal bleeding. He was eventually airlifted to Lee Memorial Hospital.

“I know I lost a lot of blood, and I was weak,” Brady told WINK News.

The report states that Holmes met deputies at the front door and had blood on both hands. She told a deputy “the demons and the man made me do it.” A search of the home for other victims found three children who were uninjured.

The sheriff’s office said an interview with Brady at the hospital revealed Holmes had been drinking all day and arguing while holding a machete, which she stabbed him with when he went to leave the home. The report states Holmes told him not to call 911 and to take off his shirt. Brady fled through the back door and called for help.

After Brady called, Holmes offered to drive him to the hospital but as they drove toward the hospital, the argument started again so Holmes turned around and drove them back home, the report states. Deputies arrived shortly after.

CCSO said the children were taken to be interviewed by detectives. One of the children, an 8-year-old, said he was asleep in his bedroom and was awakened by Holmes, his mother, to use the bathroom. He then saw Brady come in from outside with a cut on his back. The child said there was “blood everywhere” and that Brady and Holmes were crying. The child said “he prayed until the ambulance arrived because he was scared.”

Holmes is facing charges of aggravated battery using a deadly weapon. She was arrested early Sunday and later released on $15,000 bond. Holmes turns 39 on Aug. 12. WINK News attempted to reach out to her, but she was not home.

Brady is recovering at home from emergency surgery and hopes to reunite with the daughter he shares with Holmes.

“I did nothing but try to keep these kids safe all my life,” he said.

The sheriff’s office said the kids were taken into DCF custody to be placed with a relative.