West Vancouver teen charged with attempted murder of mother
A 16-year-old West Vancouver boy has been charged with the attempted murder of his mother in a Bellevue Avenue apartment earlier this week.
The 59-year-old woman was badly bruised and scraped in the attack on Tuesday afternoon, but managed to escape with the help of a friend. She is expected make a full recovery, said police.
The youth was arrested without incident and is facing several charges including attempted murder, assault with a weapon and uttering threats.
The mother, who cannot be identified to protect the boy's identity under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, says something in her son snapped.
History of violence, mother says
"The first time I took away his cell phone, that's the first time I ended up in the hospital with a concussion, because he beat me up," she told CBC News.
She says that incident took place a month and a half ago. Her son wasn't eating or sleeping and acting erratic, and he was seen by a doctor.
On Tuesday, she says her son's principal called about a problem at school — the same day she says he knocked her unconscious while she was having tea with a female friend.
"He did try to kill me. All I know is when I came up from unconscious, my friend said, 'Run, run!' So I ran to the elevator where he came after me with a knife," she says.
"He did not know me. He was babbling about ... that he had to kill me and he had to kill himself. So she stopped him from jumping off the balcony ... If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't be here."
The mother says she has only been living with her son since December and she had been fighting for custody since 2004. She estimates the boy has been in about 30 group and foster homes already.
The boy was arrested and taken to the Youth Detention Centre in Burnaby, B.C. for a psychiatric examination.
On Friday, the mother went to court to see her son face serious charges and a representative from the B.C. Ministry of Children and Family Development was also present. The boy's case was remanded until May 5.
