Deputies: 11-year-old stabbed mother's assailant with scissors
PCSO photo
PALM HARBOR, Fla. - Deputies say a Pinellas County 11-year-old stabbed a man in the back with scissors because the man was beating the child's mother.
According to an arrest report, Panagiotis Karamanlis was holding a woman down while punching her in the face during an argument about text messages Saturday evening.
The woman begged him not to “do this in front of the kids,” but deputies say he did not stop.
That’s when the woman’s child grabbed a pair of scissors and stabbed Karamanlis twice in the back.
“Mommy, I stabbed him because I thought he was going to kill you,” the shaking child told the mother, according to the affidavit.
The woman suffered bruises to her face. A 10-year-old child who was also present had to be treated for a panic attack.
Karamanlis, 44, admitted tussling with the woman but denied hitting her. He was charged with domestic battery and child abuse, and allegedly told arresting deputies that he intended to leave the country and go back to Greece.