'I Don't Want This Swept Under The Rug': Anoka Mom Seeks Justice After 16-Year-Old Son Was Stabbed In The Back
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A mother in Anoka is seeking justice after her 16-year-old son was stabbed in the back after an argument over a basketball game.
She calls it a racially charged incident.
WCCO'S Reg Chapman spoke with her about why she fears this may get swept under the rug.
"I'm praying for the best but I'm prepared for what could be worst-case scenario," said Antoinette Brasson.
Sixteen-year-old Julius Cummings lung collapsed after he was stabbed in the back five times following a confrontation on a basketball court in the city of Ramsey.
"The last thing that he remembered is they had played a game, there was a dispute, boy yelled and called him an n-word, as he was walking away grabbed him by the neck and stabbed him in the back," Brasson said.
Antoinette Brasson says her son's attacker also hurt one of his friends.
"He didn't realize he was being stabbed and his friends grabbed the gentleman off of him and he was stabbed," Brasson said.
Brasson says it was Julius' basketball buddies who ran for help and a neighbor drove the injured boys to Mercy Hospital. That's when police were called.
Minutes later they got another call, from the parents of a 19-year-old who claimed he was at the park and stabbed two people.
"And according to police he had stabbed them in self-defense," Brasson said.
Police did arrest the 19-year-old and released him pending further investigation.
Commander Wayne Heath says investigators are trying to figure out the actions of everyone involved leading up to the stabbing.
"Regardless of whatever happened, to yell out and call him the n-word and then stab him in his back -- there is no justification for that," said Brasson.
This mother is afraid there will be no justice for her son, the quiet jokester who is a lead singer in the youth choir at his church.
"I don't want this swept under the rug," Brasson said.
She believes this 19-year-old should be held accountable for what he did.
"You're not a child, you're not a 16-year-old teenager, you're not a 15-year-old teenager, you are 19 years old -- if you don't know right from wrong by now it's something else going on," Brasson added.
Julius's mom says doctors are concerned his lungs will re-collapse once the tube is removed so he may have to spend several more days in the hospital.
Investigators tell us they are amping up their probe of this case after threats by some of the people involved showed up on social media.