NEED TO KNOW
- Mark Gibbon, 62, allegedly tried to drown his daughter-in-law Jasmine Wyld after a verbal altercation between the two about his will escalated into physical violence, according to an incident report
- Wyld’s 9-year-old daughter rushed to try and save her mother, according to bystanders, who claimed Gibbon “pushed” the girl inside and continued to hold her mother’s head underwater, per the report
- Gibbon, a British man who was on vacation in Florida at the time, is being held without bail on charges of attempted murder and felony battery
A family vacation to Florida quickly soured for one British family after the patriarch attempted to drown his daughter-in-law, according to authorities.
Mark Raymond Gibbon, 62, is now facing a single count of attempted murder and two counts of felony battery following the incident — which occurred on Sunday evening at the Solterra Resort in Davenport, a city located approximately 40 miles south of Orlando.
What had started off as a verbal altercation between Gibbon and his daughter-in-law Jasmine Wyld escalated into physical violence as the two argued about his will, according to a copy of the incident report from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office obtained by PEOPLE.
At some point, Wyld’s 9-year-old daughter saw what was happening from inside the family’s vacation residence and sprinted outside, jumped into the pool and tried to pull her grandfather off of her mother, according to the report.
A bystander later told deputies that Gibbon “pushed” his granddaughter away and proceeded to once again force Wyld’s head underwater.
She said that she “observed [Gibbon] push [Wyld] under the water and hold her there multiple times” according to the report, and then watched as he “scratched Jasmine on her chest.”
The woman also told deputies that she instructed a friend to call 911 because “she was afraid for [Wyld’s] safety as the altercation was escalating” and “believed that [Wyld] could have been drowned in this incident.”
Wyld told deputies that she and Gibbon were discussing his grandchildren when they began to argue, at which point he allegedly began to repeatedly put “two hands on the top of her head to push her down under the water.”
In a post-Miranda interview with deputies, Gibbon allegedly said that the two had argued about stipulations he put in his will.
He allegedly admitted to pushing “her under the water a few times,” but claimed he never intended to drown Wyld.
Deputies noted that Gibbon had no visible injuries while Wyld had a scratch across her chest.
Gibbon was then booked into custody at the Polk County Jail after his interview, where he is being held without bail.
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