An eight-year-old Karate Kid fought off his dad's ex-girlfriend as she tried to bludgeon him to death in bed.
Helen Marie Newsome, 26, allegedly attacked Jacob Soliz-Amaya by covering his head with a pillow then beating him with a dumbbell.
It is alleged that Newsome had hid in the home in Landover, Maryland, US, for more than 12 hours waiting for the boy's father, Andy Amaya, to go to work before attacking the boy. Apparently the couple had split up just days earlier.
Jacob only escaped thanks to some quick thinking - and karate lessons he took earlier this year. "I woke up and she was smothering me," he toldFox DC.
"She was trying to make me not breathe. She covered my mouth so I headbutted her. And then I beat her up and then she snapped out of it.
"And then she started hitting me with a dumbell on the back of my head. My head was bleeding like all over my body and so I ran out."
He ran to a neighbour's home and they called 911. Newsome jumped out of a window but was caught by police nearby and arrested.
Jake was taken to hospital where he was given eight staples in the head. He has now been released from hospital but is taking a few days off school to recover.
His mother, Salina Soliz, said: "When I got to the hospital, the first thing he says is, 'Mom, she tried to kill me'. Those are words that you don't ever expect to hear from your child's mouth."
His father, Andy Amaya, said that he was shocked at the attack, especially as his son had loved Newsome like a step-mother.
"All I can think of is that maybe she was so upset to the point where she wanted to cause me harm and I guess she knew the only way to really hurt me is to hurt my son," he said.
Newsome is being held on $500,000 bond. She is charged with first-degree attempted murder.
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