Teen, Good Samaritan Slashed In St. Paul Light Rail Station Attack; Ezana Demmessie Charged
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The quick action of one teenager is credited for saving the life of another who was attacked with a knife while trying to exit a light rail train Monday night in St. Paul.
Uncomfortable but alive, 16-year-old Chrissy Little is counting her blessings. Her mother, Shaketa Moore, is by her side, happy that the blade of the knife used in the attack missed her spine, her lungs and other organs.
"It was just in the middle of her spine and it slanted a little bit, though it missed her spine and went straight through her muscle in ... her back," Moore said.
Little says this all began about a month ago.
"The first time I ran into him downtown, he was asking me and my best friend to come with him," Little said.
The man asked them to have sex with someone for money, and both girls declined.
"And he told me he better not run into me again," she said.
Their paths crossed again on board the light rail in St. Paul Monday night. He noticed Little and her friend. As they tried to get off the train at the Capitol/Rice Street Station, he ran towards them with a knife.
"He just jabbed me in my back and I fell hard, and I looked back and my back was squirting and I looked up and I seen he was going for my stomach again," Little said.
Before he could swing his knife again, a young lady jumped in to help.
"She distracted him from coming to me and he stabbed her, too, and I got up and took off towards the parking lot where police was," Little said.
Police were able to grab him, while a couple used their shirts to control Little's bleeding. The young lady who helped was cut, slashed by the assailant.
"When she came and intervened in the situation, she startled the guy from stabbing my daughter again," Moore said.
Moore was able to thank the young lady who risked her life to save her daughter.
"She told my daughter to just keep her head up because she watched the guy harass them on the train sexually," Moore said.
The young ladies are expected to recover from their injuries. Late Tuesday afternoon, the Ramsey County Attorney's Office charged Ezana Demmessie with felony assault. He faces seven years in prison if convicted.