Background: The Thunder Over Louisville show on April 18, 2026 (WLKY/YouTube). Inset top: Vasilis Sakellaridis (Louisville Metro Department of Corrections). Inset bottom: Da'Jon Hayes-Burr (GoFundMe).
A teenage boy who was stabbed when he stepped in to protect a woman and her daughter from a man allegedly harassing them in Kentucky is being hailed as a hero.
Vasilis Sakellaridis, 45, has been charged with first-degree assault, first-degree fleeing or evading police, second-degree disorderly conduct, and alcohol intoxication in a public place, Louisville Metro Department of Corrections records show. He is accused of stabbing 15-year-old Da'Jon Hayes-Burr.
On Saturday, Kristyn Stasel was leaving the annual Thunder Over Louisville fireworks show with her 12-year-old daughter in Louisville, Kentucky, she recounted to area CBS affiliate WLKY. They were walking to their car when a man approached them.
The mother said that the man — alleged to have been Sakellaridis — made a sexual comment and she, in turn, told him that her daughter was 12, to which he allegedly replied, "Never too young to have some fun."
"I flipped, and I just started screaming as loud as I could," Stasel continued. "I just started screaming as loud as I could, like 'pedophile, pedophile,' like, to get anyone's attention. And when I did, normally, someone would want to run away from being called that. Instead, he charged at me."
Da'Jon was apparently nearby with a group of other teens. He heard Stasel's cries for help and, according to a GoFundMe set up for him, "stepped in to protect a 12-year-old girl and her mother from a dangerous situation involving a pedophile."
Sakellaridis reportedly "tried to swing" at the teens, and they threw him to the ground. Stasel said she kept walking with her daughter but "the next thing we know, as we're walking up, we see the man come again around."
He had apparently stabbed Da'Jon in the stomach and kept moving toward the mother and daughter. According to the woman, about 12 military and police officers tackled the suspect, "and it took them a while to keep him down."
"That group of kids saved us, and I'm so glad that he's just minorly hurt," Stasel added of Da'Jon. "And I know he said he didn't feel like a hero, but he will always be a hero in my book because, again, I don't know what would have happened."
Da'Jon is expected to be OK, "but his road to recovery will be long and challenging," the GoFundMe states. "The emotional and physical toll of what happened is immense, and we want to do everything we can to support him as he heals."
Sakellaridis pleaded not guilty on Monday during his arraignment, according to Louisville Fox affiliate WDRB. He is being held on a $25,000 cash bond.
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