Boy, 12, recounts saving great grandparents from being stabbed to death
Lucian Johnston has been charged with aggravated assault after allegedly stabbing his great grandparents on Dec. 29.
HOUSTON - A 12-year-old boy stopped his 20-year-old half brother from killing their great-grandparents while riding in a minivan. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzelz hails the boy as a "real hero."
The Harris County Sheriff's Office says Lucian Johnston was driving with his 12-year-old half brother, 92-year-old great grandmother and 72-year-old great-grandparent on Dec. 29. Johnston's great-grandmother suggested he seek a psychological evaluation just before the attack, court documents say.
According to court documents, the 12-year-old boy saw Johnston pull out a letter opener and drop it before he picked it up and started stabbing the 72-year-old man driving the minivan in the neck.
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“I didn’t expect to really do that. I thought he was just bluffing, because that’s him," Sasha Viebag, the suspect's half brother, said.
The man stopped the minivan and got out of the car, that's when Johnston allegedly started stabbing the 92-year-old woman in the back of the head.
Court documents show the 12-year-old boy stopped Johnston's attack by putting him in a chokehold. The 12-year-old boy was able to disarm Johnston.
“I pulled him back by his collar. I knew that that wasn’t going to stop it, because he was also pulling grandma with him. So I decided to do like almost a backwards bearhug, but then I put him in a headlock, pretty much,“ Viebag said.
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“Yeah, I got scraped already from the edge of the knife, so I didn’t really care about that, but I did grab the knife. I held that to his neck also. He finally, like, he bent back my finger which is still sore right now. He head-butted me, which I have a loose tooth from that, but I do not really care, and he ran off,” he continued.
The minivan stopped in the 4200 block of Mount Vinson Way, Johnston ran away.
“I guess it’s called fight or flight moment. Like, everything was going so fast so I decided to sit there and fight," Viebag said.
Deputies eventually caught up with Johnston in the Mason Lakes subdivision and arrested him. Johnston is charged with two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Johnston has been charged with possession of a prohibited weapon in a correctional facility. It was discovered that Johnston concealed a small knife into HCSO detention facility. The Harris County Sheriff's Office of Inspector General is conducting an internal investigation.