BY DAN HILDEBRAN
A Starke woman who stabbed another woman in the back during a domestic dispute last summer was sentenced to 34 months in state prison after a jury deadlocked at trial and she subsequently entered a no-contest plea.
Carla Patrice Cray, 39, of Florida Street, was sentenced Feb. 25 by Bradford County Circuit Judge James Colaw on one count of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, a second-degree felony. She received credit for 260 days already served.
The case stems from a June 10, 2025, incident at the defendant’s Reno neighborhood residence. According to the Bradford County Sheriff’s Office arrest report, deputies responded shortly before 1 a.m. to a report of someone bleeding and found a woman with a stab wound to her upper right back and shoulder.
Deputy Michael Gillick reported that Cray, after being read her Miranda rights, admitted to the stabbing. Cray told deputies she and the victim had been in a relationship for six years before breaking up, and that the victim had since begun dating a man. Cray said she became jealous and confronted the victim at the residence. She later told investigators she retrieved a knife and stabbed the victim.
With Cray’s consent, Gillick recovered a medium-sized folding knife from her purse in her vehicle. Cray confirmed it was the weapon used in the attack.
Cray was tried before a jury in Bradford County Circuit Court in January 2026. The jury deadlocked and reported it was unable to reach a verdict. Following the mistrial, Cray entered a no-contest plea to the charge under a plea agreement calling for 34 months in the Department of Corrections.
Court records show Cray has an extensive prior record, including convictions for the sale of cocaine, burglary, forgery, and grand theft, among others. Her criminal punishment scoresheet calculated a minimum permissible prison sentence of about 34.2 months, which aligned with the plea agreement.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant State Attorney Scott LaPeer. Cray was represented by attorney Cheryl Gildner.
