: Maryland (AP) The 12-year-old boy had finished his homework and was playing a video game when he heard his mother cry out. Rushing to her aid, he found her on the kitchen floor, straddled by a fellow resident of their Prince George's County boarding house, the man's hands wrapped tightly around her neck, the boy said yesterday.
"I kept saying, 'Stop! Stop! Stop!' " the boy said, describing the events of Monday night. "But he just ignored me. He didn't stop. He just kept hurting her."
The boy said he grabbed a knife and swung, slashing 64-year-old Salomon Noubissie across the neck and opening an artery. Noubissie was fatally wounded.
The mother, Cheryl Stamp, said she did not immediately understand what had happened. "What did you do?" she said she asked her son.
"He didn't say anything," she said. "But I knew when I looked in his eyes. I said, 'Oh, Lord.' "
Law enforcement officials were reviewing evidence yesterday and had not decided whether to file charges. Their preliminary account of the incident broadly matches that of the boy and his mother.
The case presents exceedingly unusual circumstances: Rarely is a 12-year-old implicated in a homicide, and even less often does a child that age take a life to protect his mother.
"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."
Yesterday, Stamp and her son were secluded in the boarding house on Roosevelt Avenue in the Landover area, curtains closed and doors locked against reporters and neighbors.
Like other neighbors, Turan Queen said she stood by the child. "His reaction was to help his mother," she said. "This was a 12-year-old defending his mother."
Stamp and her son agreed to be interviewed by Washington Post reporters, in part to explain the boy's actions. The Post is not naming the boy because he is a minor.
Efforts to contact Noubissie's family were unsuccessful.
Stamp said she and Noubissie, a Cameroonian immigrant, moved into the boarding house within days of each other about three months ago. They became fast friends, she said.
Stamp said that she is unemployed and that Noubissie had told her he was studying to be a psychiatrist. She said the boarding house is owned by Noubissie's nephew, a Massachusetts resident.
On Monday night, she said, Noubissie was not himself. He started to yell at her and grab her hair, she said. He was speaking in his native French, as he often did, but this time in "a devilish voice," she said. "He was talking crazy," Stamp said.
She said she tried to use "reverse psychology," ordering him to leave the kitchen and go to his room to calm down. His response was violent, she said.
"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, 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."
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.
Nearby, Noubissie was flailing and yelling, Stamp and her son said. As the door closed, she noticed the blood coming from his neck. "I didn't know where all that blood was coming from," she said. "He was talking in that language -- loud."
Stamp said she did not realize for several moments that her son, and not she, had been responsible for inflicting the injury that caused Noubissie to release her.
In the bedroom, as they waited for police, the boy did not speak, Stamp said. She sat on a couch, looked down and saw the bloody knife, she said.
Noubissie was alive when police arrived, Stamp said. He was combative with the officers, she said, even as he bled heavily. He died at a hospital. Police sources confirmed her account.
Stamp, who has two adult children and a 17-year-old daughter who lives with the girl's father, said the tragedy was the second to befall her family. She supports herself and her son from "widow's benefits" she has received since her husband fatally shot himself more than 20 years ago. Her eldest son, 27, witnessed the suicide, she said. "I've had enough drama in my life," she said.
The 12-year-old boy said yesterday that he was not happy about what he had done but that he knew that it was the right thing.
"I just asked God again to protect me and my mother," he said. "I told God that I had stabbed him because he was killing my mother. I know he understands, and I think he will keep us safe now."
After the stabbing Monday night, after police had left and neighbors returned to their homes, the two sat and held each other. There was no sleep that night for either.
THAT ONE IS HARD BECAUSE EVEN THOUGH HE WAS DEFENDING HIS MOTHER, HE'S STILL GOING TO DO TIME. SO IT'S A CATCH TWENTY-TWO. BUT IT ALSO KIND OF REMINDS ME OF "JASON'S LYRIC" WHEN HE KILLED HIS DAD FOR ATTACKING HIS MOTHER.
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This kid has gotta have black in him! Listen, I live here in MD & they don't play around here! If this lil boy gets in any trouble then some folks will get crazy! Dude was 64 lol! A senior citizen!! Well damn, how old is the mother & what kind of shape is she in?! And by the way that's a big azz 12 yr old! What the hell yall feeding that kid?
@ Miss Louisiana: I hope that people have the common sense to not take eveything that a child says, literally. Yes, he said "he knew he had to kill him," but I don't think it was pre-meditated. He just thought that was the best way to stop the man.
I'll tell you what, flip the script. If you saw someone strangling your child, would you say "I knew I had to kill him/her?" Um, I know I would!
It's not a question of heroism or felony; That's that boy's obligation. She would do the same for him (hopefully)
Please believe that African Americans and human rights activists will be watching this story very closely. That baby was protecting the woman who gave him life, loves him, and cares for him. If there is anyone that I will die protecting, it is my parents, so I completely understand. I just hope that the man's family does not do anything in retaliation to him or his mother. Why would anyone question whether he is a hero?
Well I think he did the right thing. Not by killing someone but by protecting himself and his mom. You only get one mother. The child was already going through hard times living in a bording house. Suppose the man killed his mother? Then we would have been reading about this 12 yr old boy who is a serial killer becasue he witnessed his mother being brutally murdered. This child would have been a product of the system. I think this was for the best that he did what he did. Things happen for a reason and it was not time for this boy to loose his mother. God has bigger things planned for them.
Thats a Hero. I dont believe in killing or hurting anyone but for moms.....Mom Duke Man I would cut a head off and kick it down the street. Any man who dont protect they moms aint no man and he aint a man thats a 12 year old boy. If he was a man he would have knocked the dude out but then again if it was a man present old boy wouldnt have tried the mother any way. Man damnit Punks jump up to get beat down.
Some of us had to protect our family from violence at some point. I don't blame that child at all. He did what he had to in order to protct his mama. He took prior measures before having to do the extreme, if not his mother and possible the child would have been dead on behalf of that nut. God bless them.
HERO HERO HERO!! I hope they don't lock him up for protecting his mom, i don't think he wanted to kill him, i think he just wanted to stop him an it got out of hand!! He had to do wat he had to do!! MAY GOD BE WITH YOU!
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Alabama Finest Baby!!!! --------------- [link to external website removed]
What that child did was instinctive. It's like the age-old story of the mom who was able to lift an automobile when the jack had slipped and trapped her child underneath...it's call adrenaline. Most of us would have responded in the exact same way. I'm sorry that he was forced to do what he did, but it seems his mother's life was spared as a result...God bless him.
When they said French, you know the guy is white. So, now I understand why the big deal about what to do w/ the boy because, more than likely, he is black.
They don't understand when black people have to use self-defense against white people. They would rather the boy let that man kill his mother, then give him a sympathy card at her funeral then for that boy to kill that white man.
Pitiful.
martinalutherking:
Did you read the article or just scan through it? Please re-read the article. This man was not a white man. He was from cameroon, which is a West African nation west of Nigeria. French and English are its official languages. Just because someone speaks french, doesn't mean they are white (or black). When I went to Canada a few years ago, everyone up there spoke french...even the Asian folks! That was amazing to see. I speak french too (a little) and I'm not White or Cameroonian, or Asian for that matter! DON'T HATE TUBOB, AMONG THEM ARE SOME FRIENDS.
the young boy is definitely a HERO! i would do the same thing if someone was attacking my mother. i feel sorry for this mother and her son. they will probably have to go through some therapy to be able to talk about what happened. May GOD bless and keep them both!
i would say he's a hero but he had to go for the neck? he said he knew he had to kill, was it really neessary? i mean couldn't he just stabbed him in the back or knock him unconcious? i don't think he wanted to the murder the man, it to him was probably his mom died or the man. but still, i felt like that man didn't have to die. but i wasn't in that boys shoe. and that was just a decision he made in a snap. i don't think he should go to prision, but i think he should get counseling to make sure he doesn't turn into a jeffry dahmer or is later affected mentally by this event. i guess he is a hero.
@Thunder1914....what do you mean it's said that he thought killing was his only option?!!!! I'm quite sure that boy was wholeheartedly thinking that he had to save his mother. It's sad that a life was taken, but if he hadn't tried to save his mom, we'd be reading about an innocent woman dying and a motherless child! Actually if the guy had killed her, we woulnd't have even heard about this story!!!! I'm glad that boy defended and saved his mom!
@ MLK:
Omg that's such ignorance not only white/french ppl speak french! Do you know how many African nations speaks french due to post french colonization? Black Aficans in some regions of Africa speak french so PLEASE educate yourself Brotha.
And now back to the story, This boy is his mom's hero! Anyone who cares for and loves their mom would do whatever they have to in order to protect her, I know I would!!!!
WELL PUT IT LIKE THIS UNFORTUNATELY THIS YUNG GUY HAD A CHOICE EITHER HIS MOMS POSSIBLE DEATH OR THE DEATH OF THE GUY TRYING TO CAUSE IT
WHICH WOULD N E PERSON CHOOSE PLAIN AND SIMPLE!!! HELL N E SON WOULD GO ALL OUT 4 HIS MOM STR8 UP CUZ I KNOW I WOULD!!
MY HEART GOES OUT TO ALL FAMILIES INVOLVED THIS WAS CRAZII
Wow! I don't believe he meant to kill the man, but he probably panicked and just swong the knife. It's unfortunate that the man died, but if he was combative when the police arrived then that could've excelerated the loss of blood. Anyway, I hope this family stays strong and everyone keep them in their prayers. Only God can judge this family.
That child must feel awful but he did what he felt he had to do. He is a big dude for 12 though, prolly coulda kicked ol' boy's azz...dude WAS 64. Then again, I woulda heard him talking that bullchit in that other language I woulda prolly got a knife too...hell he was still talking chit after he got his neck sliced open...ol' hoojoo azz yammayammayammayamma azz [EXPLETIVE].
They could not possibly convict him. First of all he is 12 years old, legally he should not be held accountable for his actions. It's not as if it was premeditated. Even if there were other people around why didn't they come when he was yelling stop? Also, that's his mother, who wouldn't protect their mother in that situation. I can't say that I wouldn't have reacted the same way if someone was hurting my mother. And I am an adult. They need to leave the boy alone.
i think he reacted as anyone would if they had seen their mother , father, grandparent or anyone else you care deeply about getting hurt. Heros are people who save lives and do good in the world. I would call him neither hero or felon I just would call him a young man who did what he had to do in order to save his mother. if he had not reacted the way he did who knows the outcome. if it was premeditated then i would consider the felon part.
Hey Folks!!!
I know that a couple of you said that you don't even have to read the article to make your comment, but please...do so anyway!!! That article could have had all types of obscenities about us black folk and you wouldn't have even known it. The MAJORITY already say that we don't read anyway. So let's prove them wrong and read kids...just for the h/ell of it! Umkaay :-)
He'a a straight soilder. You'll need to stop trying to be so politically correct. You know the Judicial system got it out for whoever got the wrong skin color period, even if they stole a pack of Bubble Gum.The court system will try to bury a Brother if they could....So with that said Honor this MAN because what would you'll be saying if he witnessed his Mom get killed?.....Tragedy rite?...God created Man to be a Protector a Warrior, and old dude, please even if he was 89, some old people are very strong look at Jack LaLane and he's like 90 something. He did what he was supposed to do what GOD created a MAN to do SAVE his WOMEN. And any one that tries to put the law in this as this young Saviour should be punished...your living foul
Sounds like this mother needs some therapy of her own. Why hasn't she worked in over 20 years? She has that child living in a boarding house. Perhaps she never got over her husband's death and needs to be seriously counselled. She needs to get that child into counseling ASAP or he'll be haunted by this the rest of his life. The police are investigating but no charges should be filed unless someone is lying.
@Martinlutherking: You need to take a history course.
