Twelve-year-old Xavier Leathers told police he awoke to a frightening scene: his mother’s boyfriend allegedly choking her inside their home. Acting quickly, the boy stabbed the man twice in an effort to stop the attack.
TEMPLE HILLS, Md. — A Maryland mother says she may not be alive today without her son’s split-second decision to intervene during a violent confrontation at their Temple Hills apartment early Saturday.
Still wearing the clothes from the night before and sporting a fresh bandage, Xavier Leathers described the terrifying moments that jolted him awake.
Leathers told WUSA9 he had been sleeping on the couch in his mother’s apartment when, shortly after midnight, he heard her boyfriend enter the home and begin attacking her.
According to Leathers, after the man allegedly choked his mother twice, he ran to the kitchen, grabbed a knife and returned to protect her.
“Something in my body told me to. I had to take action then or something bad would happen—she’ll probably not make it,” he said. “He tried to choke my mother.”
Leathers’ mother said she believes her son’s bravery and fast response likely saved her life.
“He got two good ones before I was able to get the knife,” Leathers recalled. “I came back in, and he was on my mother, trying to get his other arm around her. So I got the knife, and I stabbed him twice in his back area, near his rib cage.”
The man was taken into custody. Leathers said he got cut during the struggle, but he and his mother were otherwise OK.
His mother said she was taken to the hospital following the incident and later filed for a protective order. She said she didn’t initially know why the choking had stopped until police told her that her son had intervened.
“They’re like, nope, he’s fine. He was defending you, protecting you, so he’s good,” she said. “I’m thankful that he was brave enough to do it, because I probably wouldn’t be here.”
Prince George’s County police are investigating the incident at the Temple Hills apartment complex and have not officially announced an arrest or released additional details about the investigation at the time this story was published.
