Teen Stabs Mother After Argument About Sexual Orientation

Police have taken 18-year-old Brian Duvall, from Fort Smith, Ark., into custody after he allegedly stabbed his mother. He told police the two got into an argument about his sexual orientation, the local Fort Smith news station 40/29 TV reported.

Fort Smith police responded to a 911 call where they said they found Natividad Saluten Parker, 55, on the porch of her apartment with stab wounds to her face and neck. Parker was then taken to a local hospital and is in critical but stable condition.

Fort Smith is Arkansas' second-largest city and lies on the Arkansas-Oklahoma state border.

Police say that Duvall, Parker's son, was running away from the apartment but was soon apprehended by authorities. Jo Ellison, a reporter for 40/29 who was at the scene of the incident, also noted that Duvall was covered in blood when he was put into a police car.

When Ellison asked Duvall about the incident, he said, "We got in a fight. She was angry at my sexual orientation."

"She didn't like that I was gay," Duvall told Ellison. The reporter then asked if Duvall tried to kill his mother and he said, "Yeah, I did. I tried to defend myself."

The police said they believe Duvall will be charged with first-degree battery.

Arkansas does not recognize marriage equality, civil unions or any other types of legal relationships. In 2007, however, the small town of Eureka Springs legalized domestic partnerships and in 2011 healthcare coverage was extended to domestic partners of city workers. Additionally, the state does not have any hate crime or anti-discrimination laws that protect the LGBT community.

In a similar incident, a 71-year-old woman from North Central Texas attacked her son's gay roommate with her wooden cane. Wanda Derby beat Lloyd Guerrero because she believes he is gay and has AIDS.

"As I lifted up my arm, when I saw her, she just hit me right here," Guerrero told the Houston news station KHOU. "She was hitting and screaming and hitting and screaming and hitting and screaming," he added.

Derby, who also yelled homophobic slurs at Guerrero, was charged with assault and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon enhanced as a hate crime.