Investigators say surveillance images led relatives to identify the suspect days after the attack.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A family member helped police identify Marvina Butler-Hardy after a pregnant mother was stabbed outside a Harris Teeter in Charlotte, according to court documents reviewed after her bond hearing.
The case began March 18 in the Cotswold area and moved across state lines before Butler-Hardy was brought back to Mecklenburg County. She now faces charges tied to the stabbing of a woman who police say was 30 weeks pregnant and standing near her toddler.
Police said the woman was attacked around 11:30 a.m. in the parking lot of the Harris Teeter on Sharon Amity Road. Investigators said she did not know the attacker. According to an affidavit, surveillance video showed Butler-Hardy inside the store earlier that morning and later sitting in her car for hours.
Documents say the victim pulled into a parking space at 11:16 a.m. Butler-Hardy then moved her car behind the victim’s vehicle, got out and confronted her, investigators said. The victim told police the woman cursed at her and tried to stab her five times before one blow hit her in the chest.
Police released surveillance images March 25 showing a possible suspect and a vehicle. The car had details investigators hoped the public would recognize, including a taped-up window and a missing hubcap. Two days later, court records say, a family member called police and identified Butler-Hardy from the images.
The family member told investigators Butler-Hardy had contacted her son and asked to switch vehicles because she had “got into trouble with her car,” according to the affidavit. The family member also told police he had no doubt that Butler-Hardy was the woman shown in the surveillance photos.
Butler-Hardy was arrested in Florida on March 30 after a traffic stop and was later extradited to Charlotte. At a Wednesday hearing, a judge denied bond, citing the random and violent nature of the allegations. Butler-Hardy spoke briefly in court and denied that she would stab anyone.
Prosecutors also outlined Butler-Hardy’s prior arrest history during the hearing. They listed earlier charges involving assault, possession of a firearm by a felon, larceny, firearms offenses and malicious conduct by a prisoner. Police have not said what may have led to the March 18 attack.
The victim survived the stabbing, and police previously said her injuries were not life-threatening. Butler-Hardy remains jailed without bond and is due back in court May 13.
Author note: Last updated April 26, 2026.