ROANOKE, Va. (WDBJ/Gray News) – A teenage boy in Virginia was assaulted at random by a stranger while he was out on a routine neighborhood run with his girlfriend.
The 15-year-old boy, whose name wasn’t given, was attacked shortly after 10 a.m. Monday on the busy street of Brandon Avenue in Roanoke.
The teen and his girlfriend were out on a jog together when the boy was attacked from behind by someone they did not know.
He sustained a large cut across his face that likely was caused by either a box cutter or a knife, doctors said.
The victim’s mom, Amy Light, said the attack was at random.
“The attack was unprovoked, no motive, no robbery. Simply a violent act of crime at random,” Light said.
The mom is shocked that her son was attacked in the middle of the day on a busy street, all while he had another person with him.
“I just froze, because as a mother you’re like, ‘What? Attacked running on a Monday morning in Roanoke, Virginia? On Brandon Avenue in broad daylight with a partner, you’re not alone, a male being attacked, a young boy?’ No one saw anything on that busy road that morning. My mind was just going everywhere,” Light said.
Eliza Braby, the teen’s girlfriend, was running with him when it all happened. The two, who run together frequently, were out on the route they always go on when the attack happened.
“We saw this man running behind us and we decided to move over and let him pass,” Braby said. “I had him [my boyfriend] go behind me to let him [the man] pass. The next thing I knew, I turned around and he [my boyfriend] was on the ground holding his face. The man was running in the other direction. I just ran to the first house that I could find that had a car in front of it so I knew someone was home and they could help.”
The 15-year-old boy was taken to the hospital for treatment.
“The plastic surgeon said he was cut with either a box cutter or could’ve been a knife,” Light said. “He had a laceration from his nose all the way to his ears. Very deep. The plastic surgeon said it took her hours to fix it. She said it was one of the worst cases she’s ever had to work on.”
His mom said although the attack was terrifying, she is thankful it wasn’t even worse.
“This was a senseless violent crime on a kid that’s now going to have a scar across his face for the rest of his life. It could’ve been way worse if he’d gotten a jugular, or eye, and we are just so thankful that it [the cut] was where it is,” Light said. “He will be OK.”
Roanoke police released photos of the suspect that were captured on security cameras. On Tuesday, the day after the attack, police announced they had made an arrest in the case.
John Murphy Elmore Jr. was arrested Tuesday night and charged with malicious wounding.
The arrest took place after officers conducted a search warrant on a home about a block from where the attack happened.
No information about a possible motive has been released.
As the investigation continues, Light has faith that justice will be served.
“We will want to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law,” she said.
Anyone with information on this case is asked to contact the Roanoke Police Department at (540) 344-8500.
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