8-Year-Old Girl's Quick Thinking Helps Her Fend Off Intruder

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8-Year-Old Girl's Quick Thinking Helps Her Fend Off Intruder

A family is left in shock after their home was burglarized and their 8-year-old daughter was beaten. However, if it hadn't been for the girl's quick thinking, things could have ended a lot worse.

Amedah Murillo was home by herself for less than 15 minutes when a stranger approached the house and knocked on the door.

"I had just left, and her sister was already coming, and it happened in less than 15 minutes," Yasmin Murillo, the girl's mother, said. "He knocked and then she hid."

According to Yasmin, the intruder went around the side of the house and broke through the gate, coming in the back sliding door. Amedah immediately grabbed a phone and ran to hide.

"She kind of hid a little bit so he wouldn't see her, and she thought he was gone," said Yasmin.

The Murillo family cleans up after the intruder broke in through the back door. ABC7

Unfortunately, the man had not left and seconds later Amedah heard glass smashing. She ran to hide in a bedroom closet and dialed 911. Amedah began whispering to the 911 operator, explaining what was happening.

"I guess the dispatcher noticed she was whispering, but that's because he was already inside the room," Yasmin said.

That's when the intruder found her.

"He grabbed her left hand and started hitting her on her forehead with her hand, she said around four times," Yasmin recalls.

Amedah began screaming at the top of her lungs, knowing the police were on the way. The intruder ran out through the back, but police were able to apprehend him within minutes.

"She said her hysterical crying made him go away," Yasmin told local news.

Amedah Murillo was able to fend off an intruder while home alone.ABC7

When police arrived on the scene, Amedah had bruises on her head and arm, but she ran to hug the officers who had come to save her.

"The fact that in such a stressful incident she had the wherewithal to pick up the phone and dial 911, she's a hero," said Hemet Police Department Lt. Glen Brock.

The intruder was identified as 35-year-old Darrell Hosie, who had just been released from prison on parole 2 months earlier. He had three convictions - one for burglary and two for robbery - and had an 18-year prison sentence. One of his convictions had been stricken and he was released early.

"The laws need to change, they do," said a furious Yasmin.

Lt. Brock says all kids should be educated on what to do in case of an emergency.

"We make our dispatchers available to any organization that would like someone from the police department to come in and talk about 911: how it works, the information they need to provide the dispatcher to get them whatever help they need," he said.

Would have have been able to do this when you were 8 years old?

Meagan has an intense love for Netflix, napping, and carbs.