Photo: Heavy.com
I am scared and impressed.
By Rebecca Jane Stokes — Written on Jun 19, 2019
I remember the first time my parents let me stay home alone. It was a big deal! I was the oldest kid in the house, and I took my responsibility very seriously. The second my parents were out the door, I locked it and armed the security system the way they taught me to. I knew the chances of an intruder breaking into the house while they were gone were slim, but I also knew that if someone tried to, I was gonna need help, fast.
Parents spend a lot of time getting their kids ready to handle dangerous and scary situations. It's important that our kids who we love so much be prepared for whatever life throws at them. But be that as it may, for all that prepartion we all secretly hope that they never have to use what they learned. When an intruder broke into Braydon Smith's home while he was alone, he did something that will make the hair on the back of your neck stand on end.
1. Home Alone
When 11-year-old Braydon Smith told his mother that a strange car was pulling up into the driveway, she didn't think much of it. Kaitlin Johnson wasn't home at the time, but over the phone she assured Braydon that it was someone probably turning around. Unfortunately, she couldn't have been more wrong. Instead of a false alarm, Braydon was faced with every parent's nightmare of a young child home alone.
While still on the phone with her son, a woman inspected the back windows as a man knocked on the front door, another man waited at the car. After incorrectly assessing that nobody was home, the man at the door broke in. Braydon's mother heard the woman out by the windows yell: "no one's home" and frantically called her aunt who was able to contact 911. But the situation wasn't over yet and Braydon was still in peril.
2. Fighting Back
Not knowing 911 was on the way, Braydon was left to face the three criminals. In addition to the man already in his home, the man waiting by the car came forward and broke in through one of the open windows located by their female accomplice. Once he was inside with his partner in crime, he bumped into Braydon, and, using a pellet gun he found inside the house, he forced the young boy to hide inside a nearby closet.
But this criminal was in for a seriously rude awakening. See, Braydon may have only been a kid, but that didn't mean he was going down without a fight. He only stayed inside the closet for a minute, and when his captor's back was turned he darted back out and using all the might in his arms that he honed playing baseball, picked up a machete laying in the room and chopped at the bad guy's head!
3. Tough Guy
It was a moment that will stick with Braydon's mother for as long as she lives. Before she hung up to get a hold of help, she was struck by her son's courageous demeanor on the phone. “I don’t think I will get the sound of his voice out of my head. He was very, very brave.” The authorities agreed. "This is very tough kid who kept his wits about him,” said Orange County Sheriff Charles Blackwood before adding something crucial: “At the same time, I want to reflect that this youngster, his family and indeed this community, are very lucky this event did not have a tragic ending for the child.”
While what Braydon did was exceptionally brave, it is also the exact opposite of what parents hope their own children would do if they ever (knock wood) were to find themselves in such a position. Sure, Braydon made it okay and his family didn't lose anything that really mattered in the long run, but Braydon didn't make it out totally unscathed, and he should consider that outcome lucky to say the least.
4. Smith's Injuries
Although Braydon was able to seriously injure the intruder, that was only intially. After hacking at the man's head with a machete, the intruder got him to the ground where he kicked him in the head and the stomach. Sure, it could have been a lot worse, but that's exactly the point: this was an 11-year-old facing a dangerous intruder! All of that said, Braydon's chop did its job, and in more ways than one...
First off, prior to being attacked by Braydon with the machete, the intruder planned on taking a television set and a Playstation gaming console. However, the injury to his head was causing so much bleeding that he fled the scene of the crime and left the precious booty behind. In fact, his injuries were bad enough they sent him to the hospital which is where he was identified and arrested.
5. Jataveon Hall
19-year-old Jataveon Hall was identified by his wounds when he appeared at a local hospital. While the authorities knew where he was, Hall also knew that THEY knew. As soon as he was treated, he fled the hospital but it didn't take long for the hospital to figure this out and to get the police involved. He was arrested and is being held in jail on a bond of $100,000.
But there's another interesting detail. Hall was also wanted in connection with another violent crime and now that he's been arrested, the police might actually have a second case against him. “Not only did this youngster thwart the larceny attempt, he created blood evidence that very well may lead to a conviction in this case,” Blackwood said.
Rebecca Jane Stokes is a writer living in Brooklyn, New York with her cats, Batman and Margot. She's an experienced generalist with a passion for lifestyle, geek news, pop culture, and true crime.