12 Year Old Boy May Face Charges For Saving His Mother From an Attacker

This is the story of a boy who was trying to protect his mother from an attacker. The 12 year old boy heard his mother screaming and ran out to see what was the matter. He found a man on top of his mother trying to strangle her.

“He threw me into the door so hard it hit my back, and it made my chest start hurting,” she said. “Then he threw me to the floor. He threw me down and started choking me. I think that’s when my son came in. . . . He protected me.”

The boy then tried to yell at the man to let his mother go, to leave her alone. The attacker ignored the boy.

The boy, who is 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighs 175 pounds, said he acted because he thought he had no choice. “He was hitting her with the broom; then he was choking her,” the boy said. “I told him to stop.”

The boy then did the only thing that he could think of to save his mother’s life. He stabbed him with a kitchen knife.

He grabbed a knife that he said his family had last used to cut turkey at Thanksgiving dinner. “I knew I had to kill him so he would stop hurting my mother,” he said. Once she was freed, Stamp said she yelled upstairs for someone to call police. She said her son took her by the arm and led her into their bedroom.

This boy acted on instinct and did the only thing that he could think of to save his mother from being murdered. So how is he being rewarded?

Law enforcement officials were reviewing evidence yesterday and had not decided whether to file charges.

There is a possibility that charges are going to be pressed against this boy for stopping a violent crime, and also insuring the criminal will never commit a violent crime against anyone ever again. It doesn’t seem as though charges are likely though.

“In Maryland, there can be a legitimate defense of third parties in the event of a violent attack,” State’s Attorney Glenn F. Ivey said. “That is a possibility in this case.”

A possibility? No shit. Are you trying to tell me that if you witness a violent crime you are supposed to do nothing because there is a chance you could face jail time if you do? If jail time is possible for stopping a crime, then what should the punishment be for not doing anything while a violent crime is being committed?

This is backward logic. If a person ever broke into my house and was trying to harm my wife or children and I had the chance to stop him, I would not think twice about it. I would rather spend the rest of my life in jail for having defended my family than live the rest of my life knowing I let something horrible happen to someone in my family and I had the chance to stop it. I shouldn’t face jail time for protecting my family. Neither should this boy.