“Feeling better than before, feeling good.”
13-year-old Kessai Kios says he feels safe after police arrested 21-year-old Andrew Freeman, who’s accused of stabbing the teen in an unprovoked attack in Everett on January 16th.
“I realized that he was like approaching me, but I didn’t know if he was gonna like punch me or stab me or anything like that,” said Kios.
Kios was waiting to cross the street to get to North Middle School when he says a man came up from behind and suddenly punched him in the head.
“I turned around and I looked at him for a few seconds and then he took out his knife and started chasing me,” said Kios.
Kessai was chased through traffic across Broadway, then tried to get away in a parking lot.
“I tripped on a rock on the ground and I went under a truck and then he just grabbed me and started stabbing me.”
Kessai showed the stab wounds on his chest and arm.
“He didn’t say anything while I was running, didn’t say anything at the light, just stabbed me and went.”
The seventh grader ran to the school to get help.
“There was a lot of blood all over my clothes,” he said, adding he plans on returning to school Monday.
Freeman refused to show for a first appearance hearing Thursday.
Prosecutors asked to find probable cause for first degree assault, with Freeman held on $2 million bail.
“This case involves extreme violence to a child. He has no known address in the community – he has a significant criminal history,” said Snohomish County prosecutor Rebecca Vasquez.