‘I had to take action’: 12-year-old Maryland boy steps in during alleged attack on his mother
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Xavier Leathers says he feared “something bad would happen” if he did not intervene when he heard his mother being attacked.
Twelve-year-old Xavier Leathers is being praised for stepping in after he says he woke to find his mother allegedly being choked by her boyfriend. The brave boy told reporters that he grabbed a kitchen knife and stabbed the man twice, giving his mother an opportunity to escape.
Xavier Leathers was asleep on a couch inside his mother’s Temple Hills apartment around 12:30 a.m. Saturday when he says he heard her boyfriend attacking her. The 12-year-old said he immediately realized that his mother could be in serious danger. “Something in my body told me I had to take action then or something bad would happen,” Xavier recalled.
He ran to the kitchen, picked up a knife and returned to the room. According to Washington, D.C.’s WUSA9, the man was still on top of his mother and attempting to restrain her. Xavier said he stabbed the man twice in the back near the rib cage.
The boy suffered a cut during the struggle but said he was otherwise okay. His mother was taken to the hospital after the incident and later sought a protective order. For the mother, the full extent of what had happened became clear only after she heard police discussing the stabbing.
When she learned that her 12-year-old son had intervened, she said she realized how serious the situation could have been. “I’m thankful that he was brave enough to do it because I probably wouldn’t be here,” she said.
The boyfriend was taken into custody following the incident. However, Prince George’s County Police said the investigation was ongoing and that the man had not been officially charged at the time of the report.