Charges dismissed against Akron teen accused in stabbing

Charges have been dropped against an Akron teenager accused of stabbing his former stepfather in an April 19 incident that sparked outrage on social media.

Summit County Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh said in an email Wednesday that her office made the decision after a careful evaluation of the case.

“After thoroughly reviewing all the evidence in this case, as well as interviewing the person injured and several eyewitnesses, it was determined the juvenile was defending his mother. Therefore, we dismissed the case,” she said.

According to the police report on the incident, the boy reacted during a disagreement between his mother and Christopher D. Curry. Curry and the boy’s mother had been married and have a young child together.

The police report detailed a confrontation at the boy’s Lakeshore Boulevard home in which Curry struck the woman in the face, choked her and tackled her to the ground. The youth’s mother said Curry pulled a gun on her son, but Curry denied the allegation in a phone interview.

During the interview days after the incident, Curry said he was the victim and the teen should not have reacted the way he did. Curry said he was stabbed four times during a “chaotic” confrontation.

“All he had to do is stay out of his mom’s business [and] stay in a child’s place,” Curry said at the time.

A domestic violence warrant was issued for Curry, but charges against him were dropped as the case progressed.

Hundreds of postings on Facebook and other social media expressed support for the teenager, who was viewed by many commenters as justified in his actions because he was protecting his mother. When charges were dropped against Curry, comments focused on what critics were calling a seeming disparity of justice.

A Summit County Juvenile Court official who was contacted about the boy’s case confirmed that charges had been dropped, but referred further questions to the prosecutor and public defender.