Mom Stabs Her 5-Year-Old Daughter To Death Not Long After She Celebrated Her Birthday

Bre Avery Zacharski |

Apr 28, 2021

Caroline Rose Cagle lived in Fruitland, North Carolina. She just celebrated her 5th birthday a month ago today on March 28th.

On April 25th, officers responded to the home on Fiesta Lane where Caroline lived with her mom, 50-year-old Penny Short Hartle.

It was 8:43 that morning when officers arrived at the house after receiving a report of a stabbing.

Facebook; pictured above is Caroline

After officers got there, they realized that Penny had stabbed Caroline to death inside of their house.

“Once officers and emergency personnel arrived at the residence, it was determined the victim, a 5-year-old female, had succumbed to the injuries she had received,” the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.

“As a result of the investigation, it was determined the suspect of the stabbing was the mother of the child.”

GoFundMe; Caroline smiles in the photo above

“Penny Short Hartle, 50 of Hendersonville has been arrested and charged with 2nd Degree Murder. Hartle received no bond and she will have a first appearance on Monday April 26th.”

It’s not clear why Penny was charged with second murder instead of first, and at this point in time authorities aren’t sharing more information on what happened.

A woman commented on one of the press releases stating that Penny had broken into her home, and she called the police. The responding officer then ended up going to Penny’s home and found Caroline there.

Facebook; pictured above is the comment from someone who says Penny broke into her home

Another woman commented on the statement from the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office saying, “OMG. This is absolutely unbelievable. I worked with this lady 15 years ago for a few years. Sweet, kind, and loving.”

“This has to be a mental illness. She seemed a little unstable back then but not capable of stabbing a child. Horrifying.”

Facebook; pictured above is the comment from someone who used to work with Caroline’s mom

A GoFundMe has been created to help Caroline’s dad Wayne raise enough money to cover the costs of her funeral.

“This is such a tragic loss for our work family as we had watched her grow into the amazing, sweet, and loving baby girl,” Rosi Delgado, the creator of the campaign, said.

Henderson County Sheriff’s Office; pictured above is Penny in her mugshot

“Many of you guys met Caroline and loved her as much as we did, we all had different stories with her and we all knew how she was daddy’s most precious gift he had in life, she was his motivation and he could have not been more proud of her.”

“We ask you to keep her daddy and family in your prayers as he is suffering with the loss of his princess.”

You can donate to the GoFundMe for Caroline here.