Santa Ana man charged with attempted murder after stabbing his son while claiming to be sending him to God

SANTA ANA, Calif. – A 28-year-old Santa Ana man has been charged with attempted murder for stabbing his 8-year-old son in the neck several times with a screwdriver and slashing him in the hands with a knife while the boy was visiting him at a sober living facility, according to the OCDA.

Christopher Lee Kearns, 28, of Santa Ana has been charged with one felony count of attempted murder, one felony count of child abuse and endangerment, and two felony enhancements of personally using a deadly weapon. He was also charged with one felony enhancement of inflicting great bodily injury. He faces a maximum sentence of15 years and four months in state prison if convicted on all counts.

Kearns is scheduled to be arraigned on March 1, 2024 at the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana in Department C55. He is currently being held at the Intake Release Center in lieu of $700,000 bond.

The 8-year-old’s mother and step-father had arrived at the sober living facility on February 10, 2024 to pick up the boy after a visit with his father. Kearns is accused of taking the boy into his room at the facility and putting the boy on his lap to talk about God while the boy’s mother and stepfather were in the driveway.

Kearns is accused of telling his son that he was going to send him home to God before putting his hand over his son’s mouth and nose to keep him from yelling for help and then attacking the boy with a screwdriver and knife while he held him down on the bed. The boy was stabbed twice in the neck with the screwdriver and had defensive wounds from the knife.

Another resident heard the boy’s screams and pulled Kearns off the boy, who was bleeding profusely. The boy was taken to Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC) in Orange where he remained hospitalized for several days.

“This little boy was in the fight for his life against his own father, and it is nothing short of a miracle that he managed to survive being stabbed twice in the neck,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. “It is unimaginable the absolute fear that this child felt knowing that his own father tried to stab him to death while his mother was outside waiting to pick him up. We are so grateful for the amazing work of the staff at CHOC to save this little boy’s life and we are committed to pursuing justice for this little boy.”

Deputy District Attorney Bethel Cope-Vega of the Family Protection Unit is prosecuting this case.