On Saturday night, a brave 11-year-old Brooklyn boy became a hero in a way he should never have to. Terrance Allen watched in terror and horror as his mother's live-in boyfriend allegedly attacked her, trying to strangle her. When Terrance's older cousin tried to intervene, the man reportedly turned on her, knocked her to the floor, and began choking her as well. This is when Terrance thought to himself, "I had enough."
Though only 11 years old, Terrance felt he needed to do something to stop the attack on the two women in his life, his mother, 35-year-old Tracy Anderson, and his 27-year-old cousin, Kenyetta Parker. His mother's boyfriend, Timothy Pender, had allegedly been beating his mother up for half an hour. Although terrified, Terrance felt he needed to act. He ran into the kitchen and grabbed a small knife. He then watched the attack unfold more. Says Terrance:
I didn’t say anything. I just stood there for two or three minutes. I wanted to see if he would get off her. But he didn’t. He was choking my cousin. She was punching him, trying to get him off. That’s when I thought -- I had enough.
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So Terrance stabbed the man in the back. He then ran out of the apartment and down the street. A stranger found him, brought him to her apartment, and dialed 911. The cops then came and arrested Pender.
Terrance told the Daily News that he now wants to be a police officer and help "put away people" like Pender, who has been charged with second degree assault.
Terrance's mom is grateful to her son and says, "That's my boy." But no child should ever be put in this position. The trauma that Terrance has just been through cannot be for nothing. For Terrance's mother to truly thank her child, I hope she never lets this creep back into their lives.
What do you think of Terrance's actions?
Image via Alan Cleaver/Flickr
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Comments 137
he should have used a bigger knife
Terrance was well within his rights to stab him....Personally, I'd have used a bigger knife and done more damage. I feel badly that he'll have to see that in his head, day after day.
Wow, if he waited for 20-30 minutes watching this guy do that it's obviously not the first time he's seen it. I would like to think that I would have called the cops myself or did something much sooner than that but we'll never know what we would have actually done at that age in that situation.
For cripes sake..stop blaming her. It is true that people don't show their true colors until it's too late and they are already moved in, or she moves in with them and things get complicated. We can all sit here in the comforts of our own self-righteousness and tell everyone how WE would never be that naive; Easy to say how someone else "screwed up" when we don't even know the whole situation, only an article's glimpse. The important thing is that she gets help and support to get over the trauma someday, the "boyfriend" goes to jail, and move on with her and her son's life for the better.
I fully agree, the mother is to blame. No woman should ever stay with a man that beats on her. She should have had him put in jail the first time he layed a hand on her, and now her son has to live with this tragedy. What does that say about the mother. I hope the boy doesnt grow up thinking this is normal. I still proud of that little boy for doing what he had to to. I just wonder where is his dad& hope he's not the same kind of man.