LaCrosse man arrested for threatening to kill three juveniles with a knife

Staff report

LACROSSE, Fla. – Samarrian Barton, 19, was arrested yesterday for allegedly threatening to kill three juveniles while holding a knife.

At about 5:01 p.m. on July 18, an Alachua County Sheriff’s Deputy responded to a home where a witness said one of the victims had called her and said Barton became upset and threatened to “kill the family.”

One of the victims said he and the other two victims, all between 11 and 15 years old, were in a room when Barton entered the room, visibly upset, with his hands in fists and a knife in one hand. The victim said Barton threatened to “stomp” on them and “stomp” on their necks. The victim said he was in fear that Barton would hurt them with the knife; he said that when he heard Barton tell someone on the phone that he was going to kill the whole family, he called the witness.

The second victim reportedly said he was hiding behind the door when Barton entered the room with a knife in his hand, and he was afraid that Barton would “attack” them with the knife; when the deputy asked what he meant by that, he said, “Stab us.”

The third victim also said he was afraid Barton was going to stab them with the knife. He described the knife as having a wide black handle with ridges.

Post Miranda, Barton reportedly said he never went into the room where the victims were, and he never had a knife; he said he only yelled at the juveniles through the wall.

Barton has been charged with three counts of child abuse without great bodily harm. He has no local adult criminal history, and Judge Phillip Pena set bail at $150,000.

Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.