FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. – A father in Florida is accused of maliciously encouraging his 13-year-old daughter to kill herself by calling her “pregnant and worthless” two days prior to her suicide attempt, court records revealed.
During a conversation over speakerphone in April, Gared Wayne Canales, 33, told his teenage daughter that she was a “whore” and to “go kill yourself,” according to an arrest affidavit.
The malicious verbal onslaught began April 7 when the teen phoned her father while friends were hanging out with her in her room. The call was on speakerphone, Fox News reported.
As the two communicated, he reportedly referred to her as a “b—-, slut whore” and told her to go “f— yourself.” The teen tried to express how she felt about her father when he cut her off, saying, “You’re not worth it. I choose my girlfriend over you anyway, and go kill yourself.”
During the antagonizing conversation, he added, “You kill yourself, just don’t say it.” Prior to the call the teen told her dad by text that she wanted to harm herself.
According to the affidavit, the verbal abuse prompted the girl to grab her brother’s baseball bat and smash a photo of her with her dad.
Two days after the abuse, on April 9, the teen sliced her wrist with a knife and piece of glass before swallowing 14 Benadryl tablets. When she told her mother what she’d done, she was rushed to the Halifax Hospital in Daytona Beach, where her stomach was pumped, according to court documents.
Law enforcement authorities obtained an arrest warrant April 14 for the Ormond Beach man. He was tracked down in Massachusetts and extradited back to Florida last week.
Gared Canales is charged with child abuse after allegedly encouraging his pregnant, 13-year-old daughter to kill herself. (Flagler County Sheriff’s Office)
Canales is charged with one count each of felony child abuse and misdemeanor violation of probation, Fox reported. He was booked at the Flagler County Jail and is being held without bond.
A restraining order was issued June 19, which prohibits Canales from any contact with his daughter.
