Mill Creek man sentenced for ‘street justice’ attack on child

MILL CREEK — A Mill Creek father was sentenced to five years in prison Tuesday for holding down a 12-year-old boy while his son stabbed him last summer.

Martinez D. Mitchell, 44, was found guilty of third-degree assault in April following a bench trial in Snohomish County Superior Court.

“You decided to execute street justice on a kid who was bullying your kid,” Superior Court Judge Richard Okrent told Mitchell in court Tuesday. “Fathers are supposed to be role models for their children.”

Officers responded to a stabbing the night of June 10, 2020, at the Heatherwood Apartments in the 13500 block of North Creek Drive, according to the charges.

Police arrived to the scene to find people kneeling and tending to a wounded child on the ground. The boy had been stabbed in the bicep, wrist and finger, court papers say. He was transported to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where he was treated for non-fatal injuries.

There was “beef” between the victim and Mitchell’s son, the boy told police when he was interviewed at the hospital after his wounds were bandaged. He reported he saw Mitchell’s son near his apartment building and called him over. Mitchell followed behind his son to approach the boy, then grabbed the boy from behind while his son attacked. One witness told police she saw Mitchell hold the boy by his throat and punch him repeatedly.

“They were messing with my car,” the father reportedly told another witness after he let go.

Multiple “eggings” had taken place between the two boys, who lived in the same apartment complex, according to charging papers. The night of the attack, police reportedly found fresh eggs near each neighbor’s apartment.

“The only weapons brought by the victim were arguably eggs,” read charges filed by deputy prosecutor Martha Saracino.

The defendant reportedly violated the terms of his probation the night of the attack, according to the charges. At the time, he was prohibited from traveling outside of King County or contacting minors, according to the charges.

Mitchell turned himself in to police the week of the attack. He was booked into the Snohomish County Jail for the charge of first-degree assault on a child. He reported to police he didn’t know his son had a knife on him the night of the attack.

Mitchell remained in custody through his sentencing hearing this week, unable to post $250,000 bail.

Between 1997 and 2017, he racked up nine adult felony convictions, according to court papers.

The defendant’s son was booked into the Denney Juvenile Justice Center in Everett. Second-degree assault charges against the boy were dismissed following a mental competency evaluation. Those charges could be filed again in the future.

At his sentencing, Mitchell told the court he felt sorry for his “negligence and poor judgment” the night of the attack.

Ellen Dennis: 425-339-3486; edennis@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @reporterellen