Nationwide — Xavier Leathers, a 12-year-old African American boy from Temple Hills, Maryland, sprang into action after waking up to find his mother being attacked. He grabbed a kitchen knife and fought off her boyfriend, who was allegedly choking her inside their apartment. The boy says he acted quickly because he feared his mother would not survive.
According to WLBT, the incident happened around 12:30 a.m. Saturday, while Xavier was sleeping on the family’s couch. He woke up after hearing his mother’s boyfriend enter the apartment and realized he was choking her. The 12-year-old said he feared she could die if he did not step in.
Still wearing the clothes he had on the previous night, Xavier recalled how he reacted when he saw what was happening. He said he knew he had to do something immediately. “Something in my body told me I had to take action then or something bad would happen. She’ll probably not make it,” he said.
Xavier ran to the kitchen and grabbed a knife before returning to the room. He said the man was still on top of his mother and appeared to be trying to get his other arm around her. Xavier then stabbed him twice in the back near his rib cage. The boy suffered a cut during the struggle but said he was otherwise OK.
His mother initially did not know why the attack had stopped. She later overheard police officers saying the boyfriend had been stabbed twice and realized her son had stepped in to protect her. “Then I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, not my son.’ But they’re like, ‘Nope, he’s fine. He was defending you, protecting you, so he’s good.'” She was taken to a hospital after the attack and later filed for a protective order.
The mother has since thanked her son for stepping in when she needed help. “Thank you. You really saved my life,” she told him. Police took the boyfriend into custody, but Prince George’s County Police are still investigating the incident. Authorities had not officially charged him with a crime at the time of the report. Both the mother and son survived, while Xavier continued recovering from the cut he suffered during the struggle.