Mom of 4 recovering after unprovoked stabbing at Orlando restaurant

Mother recovering after unprovoked stabbing at restaurant, deputies say

 A mother of four is recovering after authorities say she was stabbed in an unprovoked attack while working at a restaurant in Orange County.

ORLANDO, Fla. - A mother of four is recovering after authorities say she was stabbed in an unprovoked attack while working at a restaurant in Orange County.

The victim said she had been on a routine shift at a restaurant in the Union Park area when a man entered and began acting erratically.

The backstory:

According to the Orange County Sheriff's Office, the suspect, Justin Richards, allegedly caused a disturbance inside the restaurant before the situation escalated.

Investigators said Richards entered a Captain D's location on East Colonial Drive and made alarming statements to people inside, including claims about violence against women. After being asked to leave, he became increasingly hostile, authorities said.

"It just seems so crazy to me that you go to work and get stabbed," Lavallee explained.

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Lavallee said she called 911 as tensions rose. Moments later, she said the man approached her multiple times before ultimately stabbing her.

"Next thing you know, he is all hostile and wanting to fight, and I'm just like I'm just trying to get through my shift, like I just had a baby six weeks ago," she said. "It was definitely not what I expected when I went to work that day, that morning."

Lavallee described the moments leading up to the attack. 

"He ran up on me, and then he ran back toward the front door, and he did that three times," she said. "The third time he did that, he stabbed me."

She was hospitalized and placed in a coma for several days. Doctors later determined the attack injured her spleen, which had to be surgically removed. She had given birth about six weeks earlier.

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"It's been a very rough recovery," Lavallee said.

Authorities said Richards later made incriminating statements to deputies following the attack. He has been charged with attempted murder and is being held without bond in the Orange County Jail.

Lavallee described the attack as shocking and said she is focused on recovering and returning home to her children.