A quiet Monday afternoon in Orange Park turned violent when an estranged grandmother burst into her daughter’s home and allegedly tried to stab her — only to be stopped by the youngest person in the room. Deputies say an eight-year-old girl grabbed a kitchen knife and stabbed her grandmother in the arm, ending the attack and likely saving her mother’s life.

The chaos began around 3 p.m. on Nov. 17, when Clay County deputies responded to a frantic 911 call. On the line, the caller could be heard shouting for someone to get out of her home. When officers arrived, the picture came into focus: the woman’s biological mother, 62-year-old Serpil Adams, had forced her way inside through an unlocked door and allegedly lunged at her with a serrated utility knife.

Inside the home with two young children, the daughter fought to fend off the attack. Then, deputies say, her eight-year-old stepped in — running to the kitchen, grabbing a knife, and stabbing Adams in the upper arm. The intervention stopped the assault, and Adams fled out the door and into her car.

According to authorities, she drove back to Jacksonville, where she had been staying with a friend. The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office tracked her down later that evening and arrested her without incident.

Miraculously, neither the mother nor her children were injured. Investigators still don’t know why Adams allegedly targeted her daughter, and the family hasn’t spoken publicly.

Adams was charged the next day with second-degree attempted murder and booked into the Clay County jail on a $500,003 bond. She is scheduled to appear in court on Dec. 16. Whether she has retained legal counsel remains unclear.

What is clear, deputies say, is that one young girl’s split-second decision stopped a knife attack in its tracks — turning a terrifying home invasion into a story of survival.