Saturday, January 1, 2011

Police: Florida Father Stabbed 6-year-old Son 20 Times

X. Thomas. Photo: Hillsborough County Police.
Tampa, Florida (Hillsborough County) --- 23-year-old Xavier Thomas of Tampa, Florida, is accused of stabbing his 6-year-old son, Xavier Jr., more than twenty times.

On New Year's Eve, Xavier Sr. and his son, along with other relatives, were watching a fireworks display. When the show was over, Xavier disappeared with his son.

Family members became concerned after the 23-year-old father returned home without his son. When they began to question Xavier about his son's whereabouts, Xavier refused to respond.

Moments later, the 6-year-old boy staggered from a playground at the Timber Trace Apartments; covered in blood. Police said the child had been stabbed more than 20 times.

Miraculously, none of the boy's wounds were life-threatening.

The 23-year-old has been charged with attempted murder. Thomas' family says he was treated for a mental illness six weeks before he allegedly tried to murder his son.

My two cents:  Since I don't have access to Mr. Thomas' medical records and cannot personally assess his mental status, I have no way of knowing if he is mentally ill, or simply wanted to get rid of his kid. And if the family knew he had issues, why did they allow Thomas to be alone with his son? 

I swear, it's a miracle that so many children survive their own families.


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5 comments:

  1. towandaJanuary 1, 2011 at 9:11 PM

    Ok, this is very tragic. I have to agree that if this man has mental issues, why in the world would anyone let a child be alone with him? I'm so glad that child made it. sadly, it's just another example of what our societies children often have to endure. There's something very wrong with this picture.

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  2. Timothy FitzJanuary 1, 2011 at 11:44 PM

    That poor kid is going to need major counseling. How do you recover when the person who is supposed to protect you, (allegedly) causes you great harm? Very heartbreaking.

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  3. RudyJanuary 2, 2011 at 5:08 AM

    If the parents knew about their adult son's condition, they should have done something or contacted someone/some agency way before December 31, 2010.

    This "incident" reminds of Laurie Dann (1988), who walked in a Wilmette classroom and murdered Nicolas Corwin.

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  4. Timothy FitzJanuary 2, 2011 at 5:22 AM

    Rudy, I had forgotten about Laurie Dann! That was a horrific story.

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  5. RudyJanuary 2, 2011 at 8:25 AM

    Also, I can't forget Amanda Wallace (1993), Susan Smith (1996) and others who have murdered children.

    In Amanda's case, the grandmother begged that her granddaughter be given to her or someone else. Instead, DCFS returned the child to Amanada, because of biology. Sometimes, biology kills! :(

    ReplyDelete

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