A trans-identified male in Alberta, Canada, has been sentenced to 5 years in prison after brutally attacking his own children, severing the esophagus of his 8-year-old daughter and assaulting his 7-year-old son. Michael Joseph “Alice” Attwood, 36, had been released pending trial despite concerns that he posed a danger to the community and his family.
Attwood, who uses “she/they/he” pronouns and described himself as a “genderfluid queerdo” on social media, was arrested on February 19, 2025, after the horrific attack, which left his young daughter reliant on a feeding tube for recovery. Attwood had attacked the children while they were in their bedrooms at their Grande Prairie home before cleaning off the knife he had used to stab his daughter and calling 911 himself.
Despite the severity of the crime Attwood was released on bail shortly after his arrest. Concerned about the children’s safety, extended family petitioned the court for a psychiatric hold, which was initially granted. However, Attwood’s stay at the mental health facility was extremely brief, and he was released into the community just one week after the hold was issued.
CANADA: A "genderfluid" male has been charged with aggravated assault after attacking his two children with a knife, severing his 8-year-old daughter's esophagus.
— REDUXX (@reduxx) February 26, 2025
Alice Michael Attwood, who uses "they/them" pronouns, was released pending trial.https://t.co/KVSCk8Qfan
The release sparked national condemnation, including a formal statement by Chris Warkentin, the Conservative Party of Canada’s Deputy Whip and the Member of Parliament for Grande Prairie. In a statement titled “Monsters Who Stab Children Should Stay In Jail,” Warkentin called Attwood’s release “unacceptable.”
Attwood ultimately pleaded guilty to aggravated assault in July of 2025.
After being released on bail, Attwood was active on social media – even commenting about and admitting to stabbing his daughter in a Facebook thread.
“For obvious reasons I’m going to sit and stay silent on the locally viral rumors going around. I understand people’s upset (trust it’s not as high as my own) and I’m going to answer for what I did. When I can see the picture more clearly then I will be here to hold myself accountable as well. It’s just… not the right time for that. I need to focus on my mental health and finding the WHY to this happening… which means not being online,” he wrote.
“I am very apologetic and hurt though. Trust that. This was nowhere near my 2025 bingo card,” Attwood posted to Facebook. “And yes, I stabbed my daughter in the shoulder, and scraped my son’s arm. The cause, and the why are the slander I am mentioning here. I definitely had some sort of mental break…”
In another comment, Attwood responded to a woman who offered him sympathy for his situation, writing: “Thank you so much. I was definitely terrified of just being rejected for that happening. I’ve got a lot to go through now, and it’ll be a lot of work… but I finally found my friends… And it’s all of YOUUUU. Mod Squad!!! Assemble!”
Attwood was previously employed as a paramedic in Alberta. He has made several social media posts about being unable to work due to an alleged “disability,” or Fibromyalgia. He set up a GoFundMe for donations to support him and his three children, the youngest two apparently living with him full time. He posted that he was separated from the children’s mother.
In another Facebook post, Attwoord stated he would use some of the funds to ensure his oldest could go to a “trans-inclusive” school in Calgary, suggesting the child identifies as transgender.
“This is terrifying enough to get a GoFundMe made… let alone expect it to do well… I just, don’t have any other way right now. It’s me… and this thing, and what little bit my co-parent can manage to send me trying to live in Calgary so our oldest can go to the only trans-inclusive school we have been able to find…”
While the circumstances leading up to the crime are unknown, Attwood’s defense attorneys had attempted to make several arguments mitigating his responsibility for the crime. Among them, that Attwood had recently experienced a marijuana-induced psychotic episode in the week before the attack.
“I would suggest that this falls into the category of a person harming their own children because they’re in crisis,” Attwood’s lawyer said during a January 2026 pre-sentencing hearing. He also cited Attwood’s gender identity, claiming that past attempts at suppressing his transgender status had contributed to depression and his increasing reliance on cannabis.
Attwood’s lawyer also took issue with the “politicization” of the trial, and accused MP Chris Warkentin of improperly identifying his client despite a publication ban that had been in place at the time.
However, during the trial, a forensic psychiatrist examined Attwood and found no evidence of serious mental illness at the time of the offenses. According to the Western Standard, the Judge also contested many elements of the defense’s claims.
“Although the accused’s gender identity may have been an additional source of stress. There is no evidence that it triggered mental health issues so acute as to diminish moral culpability,” Judge Jasmine Sihra said.
“This Court seeks the strongest possible condemnation of the accused actions for violating Canadian society’s basic value of protecting children, particularly one’s own,” Sihra continued, before imposing a 5-year sentence on Attwood for his crimes with credit for time served.
Just days before stabbing his own children, Attwood uploaded a reel to Instagram in which he said that he needs to “protect [his] family from the negativity within.” He also posted a meme about Elon Musk being “transphobic,” accompanied by a series of rambling thoughts.
“Nobody needs T.R.A.S.H in their lives. It’s insidious. Like being a cop. It can infect the whole family, and even the friend group. That level of Fash was only reserved for one group before, until incels showed up anyways… well, and cops. Because, ACAB. Unless they’re going to actually do something about it, and then they’re a reformed version of that. Just remember though. Just because you’re trash, doesn’t mean you can’t do great things. Don’t let shame hold you down,” he wrote, adding that T.R.A.S.H was an acronym which stood for: “Transphobic. Racist. Ableist. Sexist. Homophobic.”
Attwood continued that he “used to be trash too.”
Attwood was described as a woman by local media, who referred to him by “she/her” pronouns in reports covering his trial.