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VA Boy, 5, Stabs 3 People Over Juice Box

By Stephanie Rabiner, Esq. on January 17, 2012 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

Some 5-year-olds throw tantrums. Some throw toys. And some just stab bystanders when deprived of their juice box.

You read that right -- a juice box stabbing. Police in Ruckersville, Va. took a 5-year-old boy into custody on Monday afternoon after he stabbed two children and an adult with an "edged weapon."

Neighbors claim the stabbing occurred during an altercation over a juice box.

Though the stabbing victims were only taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries, WCAV-TV reports the unnamed child still must undergo a mental evaluation.

Aside from the juice box stabbing, the child doesn't seem to have any history of mental illness or inappropriate behavior. As his neighbors explain in the following video, he's always been relatively happy and normal:

We may never know whether the boy suffers from anger issues, understands his actions, or if he learned this behavior from family and friends. Juvenile courts are generally quite discreet.

However, we do know that the boy will not spend any time in prison for his actions. Once the juvenile court declares the boy "delinquent," it can impose a number of punishments. This does not include incarceration in an adult prison or juvenile detention center. Virginia law only allows children aged 11 years and older to be committed to such facilities.

Instead, the boy must be punished for the juice box stabbing in other ways. He's most likely to be placed on probation and ordered to participate in socialization programs. His parents will probably be ordered to undergo treatment, too.

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