11-YEAR-OLD SLASHES MOM AFTER QUARREL

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, February 15, 1992                   TAG: 9202150254
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: RON BROWN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium
11-YEAR-OLD SLASHES MOM AFTER QUARREL
The man stood in front of his house, shifting from foot to foot as he talked about the violence that had visited his home.
He was eager to get back to his wife inside; he didn't want to leave her alone too long.
In their home in a quiet Northwest Roanoke County neighborhood Thursday night, his 11-year-old son grabbed a kitchen knife and slashed her on the neck after an argument over the boy's homework.
The gash took about 50 stitches. The family's wounds may never heal.
"Something happened. Something clicked," the boy's father said. "There had never been any history of violence. I don't abuse my kids."
Roanoke County police are looking for answers. They had none Friday.
Police said the identity of the family will not be disclosed. The names of juvenile criminal defendants in Virginia are confidential by law.
But for the family behind the walls of this wood-sided house, there is no hiding from the questions.
"It was just one of those freak things of nature," the boy's father said.
The man's wife was sitting at the kitchen table about 9:15 p.m. when their son walked up behind her and slashed her across the neck.
She frantically ran toward the basement as the boy chased her. Her husband was on the phone.
As the boy reached the downstairs, he dropped the knife.
"Thank God, I was here," the boy's father said.
After the slashing, the youngster locked himself in his room until police arrived.
Police found the woman lying on the living room floor with a washcloth pressed to her neck to stop the bleeding.
She was taken to Lewis-Gale Hospital, where she was treated and released. The boy was taken to a psychiatric hospital, where he will stay while police try to sort out charges against him.
Meanwhile, his father is wondering what went wrong.
"He was a little all-American, baseball-playing, hot dog kind of guy," the father said.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB