- May 8, 2024
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A 15-year-old student from Buddy Taylor Middle School stabbed his 13-year-old cousin, a fellow Buddy Taylor student, in a fight after both boys departed a school bus on East Carter Road in Bunnell at 2:06 p.m. May 15.
The school bus driver had let a group of children off the bus and pulled away when the children who were still on the bus began yelling that there was a fight, according to a Bunnell Police Department case report.
The driver could see the fight in her mirror, but, she told police, couldn't tell exactly what happened. Witnesses reported to 911 that the victim had blood on his back and was walking toward the ballfields near the the Carver Gym, according to county emergency dispatch notes. The older boy was seen getting into a gray Nissan and leaving the scene.
When Bunnell Police Department officers arrived, both boys were gone.
A bystander, a juvenile, told police that he was able to intervene in the fight and wrest the knife away from the 15-year-old, and that he tossed it into a ditch. That witness did not see the actual stabbing.
Officers found a small brown kitchen knife in a ditch at 205 E. Carter Road.
They found the 15-year-old at a house, and determined that the victim was his cousin.
Officers found the victim at a laundromat at 602 South State Street. He had a "small laceration on the rear right side of his neck," and his white polo shirt was ripped, according to the case report.
"While we waited for FC Rescue to arrive, (the 13-year-old) stated (the 15-year-old) punched him while they were still in school earlier in the day (Buddy Taylor Middle School)," an officer wrote in the case report. "(The 13-year-old) did not want to get expelled for fighting on school grounds, so he waited until him and (the 15-year-old) got off at the bus stop to punch him."
The younger boy said that he and the older boy had been "mutually combative at that time and while they were fighting," and that they'd both fallen into a ditch alongside Carter Street.
The younger boy "stated that 'they' (the other juveniles) said (the 15-year-old) was stabbing him, but he could not see (the 15-year-old) stab him." The younger boy then "became uncooperative" and wouldn't name any witnesses.
A parent or guardian of the younger boy did not want to pursue charges, telling officers that, because the two boys are cousins, "she will have both of (them) sit down and speak with her when they get home."
But officers are still submitting charges for the fighting.
"Due to both (the 13-year-old) and (the 15-year-old) engaging in brawl or fighting or engaged in such conduct as to constitute a breach of the peace or disorderly conduct, charges will be filed for both subjects to the State Attorney's Office for review," an officer wrote in the case report.
The State Attorney's Office will determine whether or not to prosecute.
One adult, Joshua Harris, 32, was also arrested for interfering in the investigation and resisting an officer, according to dispatch notes.
