A 23-year-old man was sentenced Tuesday to 20 years in prison for stabbing a 13-year-old boy who was walking to school in Everett in January 2025. A Snohomish County Superior Court judge handed down the sentence to Andrew Freeman.

The attack happened shortly before 8 a.m. on Jan. 16, 2025, along 25th Street, according to a social media post from the Everett Police Department. The boy was headed to school when a man he did not know approached and stabbed him with a folding pocket knife.

The victim told police the attacker wore a black ski mask and first punched him in the head, The Daily Herald previously reported. The boy tried to get away by running across Broadway toward Henry's Donuts. According to the probable cause statement, he fell while running, and the attacker stabbed him multiple times.

The teen got away and ran to North Middle School to ask for help. Everett Fire took him to Providence Regional Medical Center Everett. He was later moved to the pediatric intensive care unit at Harborview Medical Center, where he was treated for multiple stab wounds.

Everett police obtained video from Wendy's and Henry's that showed the attack as it happened. Investigators also gathered images of the suspect from several nearby businesses and released them to the public, the police post said.

Less than an hour after the stabbing, Freeman, who had not yet been identified by police as a person of interest, was booked into Snohomish County Jail on an unrelated charge. He was released the following day.

The next week, a community member recognized Freeman from the images police had shared and contacted investigators. On Jan. 19, 2025, police publicly named Freeman as a person of interest, The Daily Herald reported. He was arrested ten days later, according to the police post.

In September, a jury convicted Freeman after a trial that lasted six and a half days. The conviction was for first-degree assault with a deadly weapon enhancement. Jurors also found a rapid recidivism aggravator, which applied because he had been released from jail shortly before the stabbing, the post said.

The 20-year prison sentence was imposed Tuesday in Snohomish County Superior Court, the post said.