MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The mother of two small children stabbed a burglar in self-defense while trying to protect herself and her family’s home.
Javis Stiger is in jail, facing an aggravated burglary charge. Meanwhile the victim is thankful the alleged burglar acted alone and didn’t overpower her.
The scary incident with the intruder shook up Falon Neil in her Cambridge Manors apartment.
She had just gotten home after dropping off her two kids at school. While on the phone with her husband, she noticed things were out of place.
“He was like, ‘Something is up with that, somebody has been in the house.’ So he’s like, ‘Look around and see if you see something missing,” Neil said.
Neil looked around the family’s home. That’s when she spotted whom police said is Stiger. Neil ran to the kitchen and grabbed a knife in case she would need it, while Stiger struggled to get out the front door.
“He turns around and looks at me. The look he had, it scared me. So my instinct was get him before he gets you because you don’t know what he’s going to do.”
Neil said she lunged at Stiger with a kitchen knife and stabbed him three times.
“He’s like B you put your hands on me,” said Neil.
But to her surprise, Neil says Stiger didn’t attack her; he just walked out the door. The stunned mom called police.
A short time later, police said they found Stiger at Delta Medical Center. He matched the description Neil gave them.
“My job is to protect my babies. They weren’t here at the time, but this is their home,” Neil said.
The family is now looking at how to stay safe in the future.
“The police told me I have all the right in the world to protect myself and my family in this home. So if we have a firearm, I can use it,” Neil said.
The mom will start going to gun ranges to learn how to use a gun, but “I don’t want to feel like I have to have a weapon before I walk into a bedroom. So we are just going to move where I feel more safe,” she said.
Stiger remains in jail in $25,000 bond. He heads to court next week.