A Florida woman stabbed 32 times by her boyfriend said she has forgiven the man for the vicious attack after he was sentenced to life in prison without parole on Monday.
Melissa Dohme, 21, said she no longer holds a grudge against her ex-boyfriend, 22-year-old Robert Lee Burton Jr. — who pleaded guilty in August to attempted first-degree murder for the Jan. 24, 2012 attack.
“I offer forgiveness and I forgive him,” Dohme told ABC News. “Forgiveness is a sign of letting go and when you forgive someone that hurts you, you take away their power.”
Authorities said Burton first attacked Dohme with a pocket knife before repeatedly stabbing her with a bigger blade. The brute also cracked the woman’s skull and knocked out her teeth.
“He was just stabbing over and over with the switch blade knife and that’s when I was leaving my hands up because I knew he was trying to stab me in the eyes and heart,” Dohme told the news station.
Burton argued that he snapped because he was never treated for bipolar disorder before he was handed the life sentence.
Dohme, whose face is partially paralyzed from the attack, said she was grateful for the support of her new love, Cameron Hill — a Clearwater EMT who was one of the first responders to treat the bleeding woman.
“I met Cameron out of it,” she said. “So I can’t even look at it as anything bad anymore.”
Hill joined Dohme at the sentencing hearing.
“It’s definitely tough to look at the guy who tried to kill the girl that I love, but it’s a little easier now that I know he got what he deserved,” he told the news station.
Dohme was saved after two witnesses intervened and stopped the bloodshed.
Burton first tried to negotiate a guilty plea if he could serve less than 10 years. The judge dismissed the request, but Burton still pleaded guilty.
Robert Lee Burton (pictured) was sentenced to life without parole on Monday.
Dohme — who has undergone several surgeries since the attack, but is now working as a nurse — said she was still glad to see justice served.
“I wasn’t able to walk away with 10 or 20 stabs,” she said. “Only after 32 stab wounds and Robert Burton thought I was dead did he walk away. The only justice in return was a life sentence.”
Read more: NY Daily
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