Disclaimer: The article has mentions of stabbing.
Domestic disputes come in all forms. On the mild end: doors get slammed. On the other hand, a Thursday morning in Miami-Dade, a mother grabbed a fork and stabbed her teen son behind the ear after an argument over his lateness to school and an overdue phone bill got out of hand. By the time first responders arrived, they found the 19-year-old bleeding and his mother insisting she poked him in self-defense.
According to a report from WPLG Local 10, the incident occurred around 8:15 a.m. at a home near Northwest 72nd Street, a few miles from Downtown Miami. Authorities say 39-year-old Leticia Puentes had been arguing with her son about two recurring issues: his tardiness at school and a phone bill that had crossed the line. During the argument, deputies report, the teen became upset and began throwing objects around the house. That’s when the conflict spiraled out of control in this Miami home.
First responders found the teen with a puncture wound behind his right ear, which looked like a stabbing from a fork that is not usually considered a deadly weapon, but it counts when it draws blood. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue treated him at the scene, and though the injury was not life-threatening, it got Puentes arrested by the Miami police right away.
Puentes even admitted she stabbed her son but maintained she only did so in self-defense.
Say what?! Miami mom arrested and locked up on $3,000 bond after allegedly stabbing her teen son.
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According to the arrest report from Miami, both she and her son ended up on the floor in the middle of the struggle. She told deputies that amid the chaos, she grabbed the nearest utensil and jabbed him to protect herself, as mentioned earlier.
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Authorities weren’t convinced. Puentes was arrested and booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center. She’s facing one count of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and was held on a $3,000 bond as of Friday morning, according to the Miami-Dade County jail. The teen remained home after treatment, most likely as he was trying to process the fact that he’d just been stabbed with something most families reserve for dinner. Neighbors didn’t witness it directly, but the timing suggests this wasn’t a prolonged feud.
These kinds of domestic violence cases often unravel in similar ways: a routine disagreement that gets worse under pressure, one person is impulsive, and an everyday object becomes a weapon. But this one hits harder because it involves a mother and her child. The case will now move through the Miami-Dade court system, where Puentes’ self-defense claim will be examined more closely. Until then, walk away from a family disagreement before someone reaches for the cutlery, please.
