Teen tied to sex trafficking was stabbed in N. Houston attack, her family says

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A teenage girl, identified by her family as a victim of sex trafficking, is in the hospital fighting for her life while police work to identify her attacker.

According to Houston police, the 17-year-old girl was stabbed in North Houston near a convenience store on Tidwell, close to Friendly Road, at about 4 p.m. Saturday.

The video above is from ABC13's 24/7 livestream.

The incident was recorded on a cellphone.

ABC13 watched the video with the girl's grandmother in her living room. Her hands trembled and tears streamed down her face as she watched.

"[My granddaughter] ran so far. She ran a long ways [from her attacker] and I guess she just got tired," she said. ABC13 is not identifying the woman or her granddaughter for privacy.

The woman told ABC13 that her granddaughter was on a ventilator.

"I can't see her like that," she said through tears.

On Monday, Houston police told ABC13 they were still looking for the person who stabbed the teen several times. The girl's grandmother hopes sharing the video will help the department identify her.

The grandmother told ABC13 that her granddaughter got roped into sex trafficking at age 15 after being sexually abused in foster care.

"I'm coming to the news channel because I want everybody to know that this is what happened. That this guy is trafficking her," she said.

Kathryn Griffin, a survivor turned rehabilitative and prevention expert, told ABC13 that within the system, abuse that leads to trafficking is not uncommon.

"It's very rare that somebody [involved in sex trafficking] comes to me out of the foster care system that has not been sexually molested," she said.

For more than a decade, the state's foster care system has faced federal legal action, with plaintiffs making accusations of abuse and neglect.

The victim's grandmother told ABC13 the teen was recently arrested for prostitution. As a result, her pimp, whom she considers her boyfriend, moved her to a new corner.

"It got too hot or whatever," she said. "They just take her everywhere. She goes everywhere."

The woman told ABC13 that when her granddaughter was trafficked to Tidwell near Friendly, the girls already working the area were upset, which is what she believes prompted the attack. She said her granddaughter got into an altercation with one of the girls inside a convenience store that moved outside and led to the stabbing.

"It's just wrong. It's just wrong. There's nothing that you didn't ask me and there's nothing that you can do to make it better cause neither one of us was there, I just wish it'd stop. Not just for [my granddaughter], for all kids. For all young girls," she said.

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