A 16-year-old boy stabbed his mother 20–30 times and hit her with a baseball bat on Sunday inside their Franklin County apartment, according to court documents.
Kameren Leith was charged with attempted homicide and theft following the stabbing in his mother’s Washington Township residence. He was denied bail after a judge concluded that no steps could be implemented to ensure public safety, according to online court records.
At 10:47 a.m. Sunday, Township police were summoned to an apartment building on the 13000 block of Welty Road when Leith’s mother sought assistance at a neighbor’s unit. The stabbing occurred within the preceding half hour, according to an affidavit of probable cause.
According to the affidavit, the woman had stab wounds all over her body, including her chest and legs. She also had a significant bruise on her head from Leith hitting her with the bat, according to court documents.
She was brought to the hospital with life-threatening injuries and had emergency surgery.
Police stated that they searched the woman’s apartment but did not find Leith. Fresh blood was pooled and dispersed around the apartment, with the most concentrated pool on the carpet in the main bedroom.
According to court filings, the blood trail led from the master bedroom through a hallway, down a flight of stairs, and out of the apartment to the neighbor’s unit.
The statement states that bloody footprints in the snow led from the back to the front of the apartment complex, where Leith’s mother’s car was parked. Police stated the automobile had vanished by the time officers arrived.
Police said they didn’t discover the knife or bat while checking Leith’s mother’s residence.
According to court documents, Franklin County dispatch utilized phone records to track down Leith and his mother’s automobile in Hagerstown, Maryland, before continuing on Interstate 70 toward Fulton County.
Following a brief chase, Pennsylvania State Police from the Bedford barracks apprehended and detained Leith shortly after noon on Sunday.
According to the affidavit, Leith’s step-grandfather informed police that the adolescent had a knife and a baseball bat out and was acting suspiciously on Saturday, the day before the attack.
Police did not give a possible motive for the stabbing in court filings.
Leith’s preliminary hearing is set for December 23 before Magisterial District Judge Annie Gomez Shockey.
Five days before the stabbing, on December 9, his mother wrote a frantic plea on Facebook stating that he was missing and requesting assistance in finding him. She later updated, adding that we had thankfully discovered him.
“We have a lot to work on together, but I’m thankful we got him home,” she posted on Facebook.
According to an internet recruiting profile, Leith attended Smithburg High School in Smithburg, Maryland, and played wide receiver for the football team.
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