Gwen Cherry Park was abuzz with sports activities on July 8, 2025. Cheryl Donalson was there, watching her daughter, four-years-old, perform with her cheerleading squad. When her daughter and another girl on the squad needed to use the restroom, Mrs. Donalson accompanied them.
Mrs. Donalson is a designated “Park Chair Mom,” entrusted to keep a watchful eye on children at the park, a fitting duty for someone who possesses keen observation skills. When she approached the restroom door, her att...
Gwen Cherry Park was abuzz with sports activities on July 8, 2025. Cheryl Donalson was there, watching her daughter, four-years-old, perform with her cheerleading squad. When her daughter and another girl on the squad needed to use the restroom, Mrs. Donalson accompanied them.
Mrs. Donalson is a designated “Park Chair Mom,” entrusted to keep a watchful eye on children at the park, a fitting duty for someone who possesses keen observation skills. When she approached the restroom door, her attention was drawn to the dead-bolt lock. The cam was partially extended, but not fully in the locking position. She pressed the door open and walked in to make sure that the restroom was empty. As she put it, “I needed to check the stalls before they go in, that is standard operating procedure for me.”
That’s when she saw a sexual assault in progress, and she immediately tried to get the attacker off of the girl.
Deputies later identified the suspect as 18-year-old Antwan Johnson. He allegedly lured an 11-year-old girl into the restroom by asking her if she could retrieve toilet paper for him. But then, he followed her inside the restroom and sexually assaulted her.
After Mrs. Donalson intervened, the suspect ran out the door. Mrs. Donalson chased after him. She recalled that during the entire situation, she did not have any fear for her own safety.
Other people at the park, alerted by Mrs. Donalson’s yelling to catch the suspect, gave chase, and they caught up to and subdued him a short distance from the park. Police arrived moments later and took the suspect into custody. Johnson’s next court hearing is in October.
“If he got away, that’s all I was thinking, if he got away, where was her justice?” Mrs. Donalson recounted during an award ceremony on August 14, 2025, inside the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office Headquarters in Doral. Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz awarded her a Certificate of Appreciation. “Thank you for stepping up, thank you for speaking up, thank you for taking action,” the Sheriff said. “We appreciate it, we do it as our job, but as a community, we’re just grateful for human beings like you.”
Mrs. Donalson said her actions were guided by God. “I’m very spiritual, in that God places me where I need to be, so despite all of this recognition, I’m just one of God’s soldiers.”
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