PEARL RIVER COUNTY, Miss.–An assault on two boys, five and eight years old, left one of them in the hospital Wednesday in serious condition, after having his throat slashed. Police say the man who did it may be related to the boys’ future step mom.
This is what police say went down: James Herald Smith, 41, kidnapped the two boys from their home in Pearl River County and took them to his trailer in Leesburg in Hancock County. What happened inside the home was not completely clear, but The Sun Herald reported that sexual battery was one of the charges against Smith.
Police said Smith attacked the eight-year-old, slashing his throat. But, he managed to get away and run through the woods to another house for help.
He was later airlifted to the hospital in serious condition.
Smith then put the younger child in his car and took off, but stopped and ran away. That’s when the younger child got out and ran. When deputies pulled up, they say him coming out of the woods.
They caught Smith just a little while later.
He’s charged with sexual battery, attempted murder and kidnapping. Smith was still in jail Thursday morning.
