Boy, 15, Admits He Stabbed Teacher

A 15-year-old Pacoima youth admitted Wednesday that he stabbed a teacher in the back in front of an Olive Vista Junior High School class. He faces up to eight years in a juvenile facility.

The thin, soft spoken ninth-grader was charged with assault with a deadly weapon on a school employee in the March 6 attack on English teacher Cynthia Edwards, 37, of Palmdale. Edwards had called the boy to the front of the Sylmar school classroom after he disturbed other students discussing Homer’s “The Odyssey” by using profanity in an argument with another student.

The 3-inch-long knife was embedded in the back of Edwards’ shoulder. She was hospitalized for five days and is recovering at home on medical leave, officials said.