Father of 8-year-old boy stabbed to death in Hartselle speaks out

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAFF) - The father of an 8-year-old boy who police say was stabbed to death by his mother is speaking out.

On March 16, police discovered Tyler Gardiner lying in the master bedroom of his mother’s home in Hatselle after he was stabbed to death. His mother, Jennifer Long, was arrested and is now charged with capital murder.

Tyler’s father, Dennis Gardiner, told WAFF 48 that he is demanding justice for his son.

Gardiner lives in Pensacola, FL. and said he was not told about his son’s death until several days after the killing, and that he made the discovery through social media.

He said he is distraught and hopes justice will be served for his son.

“I’m a Christian, I really am, but for what she did to my son, I hope they pull every d*** bit of hair right off her head,” Gardiner said. “She tortured him is what she did. She cut him first and then when the grandfather got up there he didn’t even try to get my son. Too bad he was cut but he never tried to get my son, and that’s why he’s dead.”

“That whole d*** neighborhood [are] d*** cowards. They never once tried to help a little defenseless boy with a grown woman, who’s crazy, with a knife. What is this world coming to that you can’t even help out an 8-year-old?” he said.

Unfortunately, this is not the first time Gardiner has lost a son. He said that in 1991 he lost another son to a drunk driver and that he is devastated to relive a horror that no parent should ever go through.

“I knew it was going to happen, but no one ever did a d*** thing about it. Now I have a dead son,” Gardiner said.

Long is expected to appear in court on April 3.

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