11-Year-Old Boy Stabbed By Another Child Outside NJ School: Police

An 11-year-old boy walking home from school is facing a years-long recovery after allegedly being stabbed by fellow student in New Jersey not far from where they both attend class.

What started as a typical walk home from school for Smailyn Jimenez from Perth Amboy New Jersey ended in bloodshed Wednesday afternoon, after another 11-year-old student used a kitchen knife to stab him in the stomach, officials said. The suspect in the case attends the same school as Jimenez, Samuel E. Shull Middle School.

Zenovia Cruz was driving to the school to pick up her niece when she spotted the boy crying out for help. That’s when Smailyn lifted his shirt to show her his stab wounds.

“I saw he was screaming, with blood on his hands,” said Cruz. “I brought him into the car…I saw an ambulance, ran out the car, flagging them down…I’m completely heartbroken, I haven’t slept knowing if he’s OK or not.”

Had it not been for Cruz’s quick thinking, Smailyn stood no chance of surviving, said his father, Juan Jimenez.

Police arrested the boy believed to be responsible for the attack, charging him with an act of juvenile delinquency for offenses equal to attempted murder and aggravated assault if they were committed by an adult. The boy remains in custody at the Middlesex County Juvenile Detention Center.

The city and the district released a joint statement saying in part, “We have to work together to provide a set of interventions and solutions that will work for our students…..including mental health services, counseling, and peer-to-peer interventions.”

A group of Perth Amboy parents will hold a rally on Monday, urging the district to crack down on bullying and calling for the district superintendent to resign.