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Detroit family files $50M lawsuit after daughter's throat slashed
The attorney for the family says they are now filing this $50 million lawsuit because a judge ruled the little girl’s alleged attacker is competent to stand trial.
DETROIT (FOX 2) - The family of an 8-year-old Yemeni girl is suing an elderly man accused of slitting her throat as she played in a park on Detroit’s west side in October 2024.
The attorney for the girl and her family say they believe she was targeted for being Muslim.
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The attorney for the family says they are now filing this $50 million lawsuit because a judge ruled the little girl’s alleged attacker is competent to stand trial.
This is after a mental evaluation took place.
8-year-old Saida Mash-rah was 7 at the time her throat was slashed while playing at Lloyd Ryan Park in 2024.
Police say 74-year-old Gary Lansky committed the unspeakable act.
The attorney for the girl says her grandmother took her to the playground just like she always does when Lansky pulls up in a van, walked right out, lifted Saida’s chin, and sliced her throat with a knife before trying to stab her.
That’s before he allegedly tried to go after her grandmother. They believe they were targeted due to their Muslim heritage and call it a hate crime.
Listen as the little girl talks about the nightmares she still has one year later.
"I dream about the whole entire park, blood, and I feel like in my dreams the guy would say "I’m coming back for you", and that makes me scared. That’s why I cry in the middle of the night," Saida Mashrah said.
"We did sue him for $50 million dollars. We feel that he should stay in jail, remain in jail for the rest of his life. Any type of monster that can do this to a little child that’s 7 years old is absolutely a danger to the community and danger to the society," said attorney Nabih Ayad.
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The family attorney alleges in the lawsuit that the suspect had been driving around daydreaming about slashing a child’s throat in front of their parents and peers.
FOX 2 was told the attacker said nothing before it all took place.
The lawsuit was filed in Wayne County Circuit Court.