By SKYLA CARTER
After ten and a half years, the Bonifay Police Department (BPD) has reopened its investigation into the November 2015 stabbing of Emily Carter at her residence in Bonifay. The case previously reached a standstill in 2017 under then‑Chief Chris Wells, but with the reopening by current department leadership, Carter, who now resides in Washington County, says she feels hopeful that justice will finally be served.
“For the first time in over a decade, I feel hopeful. DNA technology has advanced a lot since 2015, and I’m optimistic those advancements will finally provide answers that weren’t available back then,” Carter said. “My daddy’s health is declining, and one of my biggest hopes is that he will be able to see this case solved and justice served. After 11 years of waiting, I truly believe this will be the year, and I have faith that the next time an article is written about this case, it will be because an arrest has been made.”
During the 2015 attack, Carter was stabbed approximately 29 times in the head, shoulders, and back while she slept. One of the wounds punctured her lung.
Carter recalls going to bed around 3:30 a.m. after exchanging text messages with a friend. Earlier that evening, her cousin, Haley, had come to stay with her for her birthday. Around midnight, Carter briefly left her room to wish her sister a happy birthday before returning to bed.
Just before the attack, Carter says she remembers faintly hearing someone coming up the stairs. She assumed it was her daughter Presley, who had fallen asleep on the couch, and did not wake up. Carter was lying on her stomach when the assault began.
The next thing Carter says she remembers is someone on top of her, striking her and knocking her out of bed. She moved into a corner of the room and realized she was being stabbed. In an attempt to protect herself, she covered her head with her hands. During the struggle, she became tangled in her comforter while the attacker continued stabbing her.
According to Carter, the attacker never spoke during the assault. While wrapped in the comforter, Carter could see only the attacker’s jeans and shoes. She is unsure whether she screamed. Eventually, the assailant fled the room. Carter managed to reach Haley in the adjacent bedroom before collapsing. Haley called for an ambulance.
Carter also recalls making physical contact with the attacker’s face during the struggle and remembers that it felt rough and stubbly.
“Back then, I thought the hardest part was what happened to me,” Carter said. “I didn’t realize the harder part would be learning how to live after it — how to exist in a world where people knew me by the worst moment of my life before they knew my name. Surviving something publicly means you keep surviving it every single time the world decides to revisit it. There is no going back to who you were before. You grieve that person for a long time. I still grieve me terribly.”
While no new details can be released due to the active investigation, BPD Lieutenant Chelsey Castro encourages anyone with information to contact the department at 850‑547‑3661.
Ali Moreland 
Staff Report 
AMBER PATINO