Boy ran barefoot to school, seeking protection from mom

A 9-year-old boy ran into his St. Paul elementary school barefoot, crying, "My mom is trying to kill me, don't let me go back to her," according to charges filed Friday against his stepmother in Ramsey County District Court.

Prosecutors charged Tashay Caprice Johnson, 24, of St. Paul, with two counts of terroristic threats and malicious punishment of a child.

The complaint said police arrived at Dayton's Bluff Achievement Plus Elementary School March 25 to find the boy, identified in court documents as O.C., with a swollen head, several marks on his left arm, a scratch near his left eye and scratches on the right side of his neck.

Johnson allegedly hit O.C. after a teacher visited the boy's home to discuss behavioral problems, according to the complaint.

When the teacher left, "O.C. said Johnson hit him in the head with a blue baseball bat that was in the kitchen on top of the cabinets. Johnson then hit him in the face with her fist, approximately twice, and struck him on his left arm with a gold belt several times. Johnson was still very upset with O.C. after she'd struck him several times and said to him, 'I'm going to kill you,'" the complaint said.

When Johnson allegedly said she would grab a gun that a relative hides in the garage, the boy fled to school in his pajamas, according to the charges.

Johnson denied hitting the boy or threatening him and said she may have cut his lip when she tried to "snatch him as he fled," the complaint said. Police recovered a blue bat and arrested Johnson.