INDIANAPOLIS — An argument on Instagram led to a fight at North Central High School last week that left a student in critical condition after he was stabbed in the heart and brain, according to court documents.
Officers with Washington Township School Police responded to a fight between two students at 7:25 a.m. Sept. 8, according to a probable cause affidavit. Police found a 17-year-old student suffering from stab wounds to his body, while school staff detained 18-year-old Wyatt Maxey.
The 17-year-old, whose identity has not been released, was stabbed multiple times and twice suffered cardiac arrest while being treated in the operating room.
Ascension St. Vincent's Hospital staff told police the victim will be intubated for months and they could not provide a long-term prognosis.
Prosecutors on Monday announced Maxey will face charges of attempted murder, aggravated battery and possession of a knife on school property resulting in bodily injury.
A witness told police the victim said he was involved in an argument on Instagram with Maxey, who allegedly threatened to kill him. The witness said they and the victim were walking towards North Central High School when Maxey called out to the victim saying, “Come on, let’s fight” and “Y’all got five seconds before I slice you.”
The witness said they turned around and saw Maxey with a black folding knife in his right hand. The witness and victim told Maxey to put the knife down, and the victim ran inside the school.
Court documents said Maxey chased after the victim with the knife, and the witness told police they saw Maxey stab the victim at least once.
A school official also witnessed the incident and unsuccessfully attempted to pull Maxey away from the victim. Court documents said Maxey dropped the knife after he stabbed the victim. The incident was recorded on school security cameras.
In an interview with police, Maxey said an argument began the day before when the stabbing victim threatened him on Instagram.
They agreed to fight behind the school, and Maxey told police the stabbing was retaliation after he was thrown to the ground and kicked by the stabbing victim and another student.
The detective interviewing Maxey did not see any visible injuries on him.
Maxey told police he was “angry and was not thinking” as he followed the victim toward the school, pulled out the knife he kept in his pocket and “poked” the victim four or five times.
Maxey told police he stabbed the victim because “at the time, it felt right” and added, “What else am I going to do? I don’t want to say it like that. I guess you can say I was trying to kill him, I don’t know … it just happened.”
He later told the detective he wanted “to take responsibility for what (I) did” and that he was sorry.
"Now that I think about it. He didn't do nothing to me," Maxey told police.
The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department asked anyone with information about the incident to contact Detective Michael Phillips at 317-327-3475 or Michael.Phillips@indy.gov.
