A man has been charged with attempted first-degree murder after he attacked a 17-year-old transgender girl with a butcher knife repeatedly at Miami International Airport on Saturday night.
According to Miami-Dade police, the unidentified victim is a trans girl who was in the process of transitioning, WSVN News reported. Authorities haven’t confirmed whether the man attacked the victim due to her gender identity.
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An autopsy revealed restraints and a spit hood contributed to her death.
After slicing the victim 18 times around the face, neck, and legs, the assailant, Alexander Paul Love, 29, tried to throw the trans teen over a fourth-floor railing at Terminal J in the airport, police reported.
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An active shooter alert was issued, causing panic in the terminal. Passengers in two concourses were evacuated.
Police said the attack was perpetrated “without provocation.”
Country officials said both individuals were unhoused and living at the airport. It was unclear if they knew each other.
Surveillance video revealed Love staring at the victim for some time before drawing the butcher knife from his backpack and attacking her.
Moments before the attack, the girl can be seen sitting on the floor eating a meal.
The victim underwent emergency surgery and is recovering at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami.
Judge Mindy S. Glazer ordered Love held without bond on the attempted murder charges after a Monday morning court appearance. She detailed the violent attack.
“He attacked the victim, who’s 17 years old, with a long butcher knife, 18 times on [her] arms, shoulder, neck, face and head and legs, while the victim was sitting on the floor eating a meal,” the judge said.
“No bond on count one. No bond on count two. Good day, sir,” said Glazer.
At the airport, passengers said the attack and police response caused panic in the concourse.
“We heard the escalation of a fight and somebody said, ‘Run,’” said a woman.
“It was pretty scary for a lot of people that were here,” said another passenger. “Everybody was just running.”
Video from Only in Dade showed a woman covered in blood being assisted by a man.
Public records show Love, originally from Ohio, was arrested at the airport on a misdemeanor domestic violence charge in 2016, the Miami Herald reported. He was arrested again in Miami-Dade County on low-level offenses in 2023.
Love told detectives after the attack that he was possibly drugged.