A 3-Year-Old Girl Walked More Than A Mile For Help After Her Mother Was Murdered

ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - A 3-year-old girl walked more than a mile down a busy road in Florida to her grandmother's house to seek help after her father allegedly murdered her mother, officials said on Tuesday.

Sgt. Kristin Thompson of the Lake County Sheriff's Department described the little girl as "kind of heroic."

"That's quite a distance for a 3-year-old," Thompson said.

The little girl knew the route to her grandmother's house because she had walked it with her mother, he said.

The sheriff's department named Johnny Lashawn Shipman, 36, as the suspect and issued a warrant for his arrest in the death of Kristi Lynne Delaney, 26, of Mascotte, 40 miles west of Orlando.

Delaney filed child support and paternity claims against Shipman in 2011 and a petition for protection from him in 2012, according to Lake County court records.

Thompson said Shipman did not live in the home with Delaney and her daughter. Thompson would not disclose exactly what the girl saw or told investigators, or whether she identified the assailant as her father.

"She went down to her grandmother's and said she couldn't get her mom to wake up," Thompson said.

Shipman has an arrest record that includes battery, burglary and drug charges since 1995, according to court records.

(Editing by Kevin Gray and Ken Wills)