Police say a 13-year-old boy was randomly attacked and had his throat slashed near the Slingshot ride on the Daytona Beach boardwalk over the weekend. – Police say a 13-year-old boy was randomly attacked and had his throat slashed near the Slingshot ride on the Daytona Beach boardwalk over the weekend.
The man accused of this horrifying attack, Jermaine Long, faced a judge Tuesday. Long is being held without bond in jail — exactly what the victim’s family pushed for after learning about his criminal past.
The boy’s mother, Lori Clarke, reached out to News 6 on Monday.
[LISTEN TO THE 911 CALL IN ATTACK BELOW]
“There was a ton of people around. Tons of people at the Slingshot. It was well-lit. We felt safe,” Lori said.
What was supposed to be a fun annual trip to Daytona for the 500 took a sharp turn for the worse.
Lori and Jerod Clarke said Saturday night their family was walking by the Slingshot ride and stopped to watch it.
Out of nowhere, they say Jermaine Long quickly walked up to Sullivan.
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“He walked up and made this motion and so I thought he was stealing the phone and I yelled at him and ran after him and when I turned around I realized no, my son was cut,” Lori said.
Sullivan’s neck was slashed. He was rushed to the hospital, where he received 13 stitches.
“One more millimeter and he probably wouldn’t have made it,” Lori said.
Long was caught by police a street over. Video shared with News 6 shows his arrest.
He’s charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and faced a judge for a second first appearance on Tuesday - this time the judge said they would be holding him without bond.
Long is a registered sex offender with a lengthy criminal history in Volusia County.
Most recently, he was arrested in January for allegedly trying to hurt two men with a knife and then hitting them with a large pole.
Prosecutors dropped those charges, and Long was released from jail just four days before the incident with the Clarke family.
“We definitely won’t be going back to the beach for a very long time in Daytona,” Lori said.
As for the family trip, the Clarkes said they gave Sullivan the option to still go to the 500 on Sunday.
“His neck was hurting but he really wanted to go so we tried to keep things as normal as possible as I said ‘let’s go,’” Jerod said.
Investigators said Long has refused to give any motive for the attack. News 6 is pushing for answers about his prior release in January.