Wow.
A 17 year-old male was arrested after admitting to stabbing a 13 year-old boy to death on his birthday and attempting to kill two others while at a sleepover party in Palm Beach, Florida, on March 11. Corey Johnson is now in juvenile detention while a grand jury decides whether to try him as an adult.
“In his statement, Johnson advised he stabbed the victims because of his Muslim faith,” a police affidavit said. He has been charged with murder and attempted murder.
Johnson was staying the night at the residence of Elaine Simon, with her son Kyle Bancroft, in a gated community in Palm Beach gardens, according to The Palm Beach Post. On Sunday evening he went with a group for pizza with the birthday boy, Jovanni Brand, and their friends. Brand also stayed over at Elaine Simon’s house.
Johnson and Bancroft watched violent Islamic State videos together that night. Johnson got up at around 4am and decided to kill Bancroft’s mother, Simon, his younger brother Dane and his friend, Brand in their sleep. He stabbed Brand and slit his throat.
Simon heard Brand moaning and came upstairs to investigate. She was surprised to find Johnson, who attacked her and stabbed her approximately 12 times. Johnson jumped on top of her and was stabbing her when Dane ran in to protect his mother and pushed Johnson off. During the fight that followed, Johnson stabbed Dane approximately 32 times.
Despite his injuries, Dane was able to push Johnson away, climb out of a second story window and scale down 12 feet to the ground. While the young men were fighting, Elaine Simon was able to escape to a nearby house and get a neighbor to call 911.
“He’s a hero,” Dane’s father Luke Bancroft told The Post about his son’s actions during a phone interview. “He saved his mom.”
Kyle Bancroft, 15, woke up when he heard Dane calling Brand’s name. He did not witness the attack or see Johnson after the murder. Kyle and Johnson had been best friends for nine years, since they met in elementary school.
When police arrived on the scene Johnson barricaded himself in a room. Police took him into custody at around 8am local time. Jovanni Brand was pronounced dead at the scene.
Johnson told police that Dane had mocked Islam at the Brand’s birthday party. He also said Brand had called celebrities “gods.” This statements, Johnson said, motivated him to carry out the murder. He also told police he read the Quran that night “to give him courage to carry out his intentions.”
Via Clarion