A teen who has been charged with stabbing his brother told investigators he would rather go to jail than spend eight hours in the car with his sibling.
Deputies with the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office in Florida arrested the boy, 13, and charged him with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.
Investigators said he stabbed his 15-year-old brother in the arm three times with a pocket knife.
He told them he understood his rights and that he didn’t regret stabbing the older boy, who had been teasing him.
He is said to have added: “I’d rather be in jail than eight hours in the car with him”. The pair live in Clarksville, which is several hours’ drive away near Nashville in Tennessee.
The incident happened inside a car parked in a driveway in Crestview, about 50 miles from Pensacola, Lt Todd Watkins said.
The older brother walked to the door of the home and called 911, he added.
The arrest report alleges the 13-year-old said: “I stabbed him and I don’t care about going back to jail. I’d rather be in jail than eight hours in the car with him.”
Watkins said the youngster, who has been put in juvenile detention, told deputies he did it because he was “tired of his brother picking on him.” Watkins added: “We’ve had incidents with siblings but not this young.
“I have never dealt with them this young with this violent of a crime.”
He said the older brother did not say much to deputies at the time he was stabbed.
The officer added that the 15-year-old was heard calling some of his friends to retaliate against his brother while he was in the
back of the ambulance, apparently to no avail.
Doctors treated him for three “deep puncture wounds” before releasing him from the hospital, adding that his treatment did not include surgery.
