‘He’s not going to stop until one of us is dead’: Jacksonville man stabbed by father speaks out

Jacksonville, FL — A sister and brother, who said they were stabbed multiple times by their own father, survived the attack.

Carlos Rivera Jr. said his father, Carlos Rivera Sr., stabbed him eight times before setting part of their Lakeshore home on fire on Monday.

Rivera Jr., told Action News Jax’s Courtney Cole, even though he and his father didn’t have the best relationship, he’s still trying to figure out why his father would do something like this.

At 4 a.m. on Monday, Carlos Rivera Jr. said he woke up to the smell of gas inside the Shirley Avenue home.

"I go to the door, and you hear him pouring the thing on the door," the son said.

Rivera Jr. called out to his sister, whose room was next door, to make sure she was OK.

"When she heard me call her name, she started screaming, because I heard her say, ‘Yo, he’s trying to kill me!’ When I opened up the door, he stabbed me,” Rivera Jr. told Action News Jax.

He said his father stabbed him eight times in his hand, head, back, and stomach- in front of his 2-year-old son.

"My son was like 'Daddy, he’s going to kill you.' That’s when I had enough strength to hit him,” said Rivera, Jr.

While they were fighting, his sister, who was also injured from being stabbed, was able to escape her bedroom with her children, ages 10 and 6.

Rivera Jr. said his father intentionally set both his sister's room and his room on fire.

Pieces of the glass are still on the ground and the smell of the charred wood is still in the air. At the home, there is a hole in the window, from which the victim’s escaped.

"Before the cops even came, he came to the window. He was like, ‘You’re going to die, mark my words, you’re doing to die.’ Two minutes later, the house was on fire,” said Rivera Jr.

He said his father turned himself in to police two blocks away from the scene.

Right now, Rivera Sr. is sitting in jail without bond.

He’s facing charges of aggravated battery and arson.

He will have to face a judge in June.

Rivera Jr. said his father has a history of abusive behavior and used to beat his mother when Rivera Jr. was younger.

He said that, in April, he and his father got into an argument over a car and a cellphone that turned physical.

"He came in there. He pushed me while I had my son. I put my son down. He pushed me again. Me and him started tussling. Sister got involved, like, tried to break us up. He punched me. I punched him back,” Rivera Jr. said.

He said his father called police, but the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office arrested his father for his aggressive behavior.

“The whole time he was locked up, I was calling the D.A. letting them know this is not his first time. There's a pattern. This is what he does. It’s going to just escalate more and more,” said Rivera Jr.

Court records show Rivera Sr. pleaded no contest and had his adjudication withheld in that case, pending a year of probation. Rivera Jr. said his father was also required to take anger management and family classes, but he doesn't think the state attorney’s office is taking this threat to the lives of him and his sister seriously enough.

"If he do come out again, he’s not going to stop until one of us is dead," Rivera Jr. said.

Court records further show Rivera Sr. recently filed to evict his children, saying they owed money for utilities. His daughter told police they had initially moved in to help Rivera with his failing health.