BATON ROUGE - Police say a verbal spat between a mother and her son turned violent when the man grabbed a knife and stabbed her.

Officers responded to the scene on N. 36th Street near Gus Young Avenue at around 7:40 p.m. Monday. When they arrived, they said they found 24-year-old Tom Johnson had stabbed his mother in the chest with a knife.

The family’s father was present during the incident, and he told officers he saw Johnson stab his mother with the knife. The victim was taken to the hospital to be treated for a knife wound below her left breast.

When Johnson was taken into police custody, he told officers that he was trying to kill his mother and that he wished he could have done more. In a post-arrest interview, the man admitted to stabbing his mother because he was angry.

Johnson was booked into the parish prison on one count of attempted second degree murder.