A 13-year-old boy was critically injured after being stabbed in the heart at a school in Kiel in January, and two young men, aged 18 and 19, are now standing trial on charges of attempted manslaughter.

As reported by Hamburger Morgenpost, the Kiel public prosecutor’s office alleges that on the evening of Jan. 19, 2025, the two accused, together with other individuals who are being prosecuted separately, lured the boy out of his shared accommodation in the Hassee district under false pretenses. According to investigators, the group then attacked him in the schoolyard of the Christian School Kiel.

Prosecutors believe that several youths repeatedly punched and kicked the victim, who was eventually left unconscious. One of the assailants allegedly stabbed him with a knife, injuring his pericardium and nearly killing him. Emergency responders managed to resuscitate the boy at the scene before he underwent hours of surgery in hospital. Doctors reportedly later described his survival as a miracle.

Seven suspects between the ages of 14 and 22 were initially arrested on the night of the attack, but five were released shortly afterward. The two men now facing trial have remained in custody since their arrest. It is still unclear who wielded the knife, with the suspects blaming each other while the victim, still traumatized, has been unable to give testimony.

Investigators linked the attack to an earlier dispute between the boy and one of the suspects. The boy’s mother reportedly received threatening phone calls in the days before the assault, one of which directly warned of violence.

As the trial opened, the family released a deeply emotional letter from the victim, published by local AfD politician Hubert Pinto de Kraus and later circulated by activist Martin Sellner. In the letter, written in the first person, the boy describes repeated bullying, humiliation, and violence in the months leading up to the attack.

“Since last year, I had been repeatedly humiliated and beaten by a well-known group of offenders. My mother filed complaints, but nothing happened,” it read.

He recounts how he was ambushed, beaten, and ultimately stabbed, writing: “On January 19, 2025, I died (ed. clinically, as his heart stopped) in Kiel – at 13 years old, from a stab to the heart. My mother and I were ignored, and the perpetrators were given legal counsel. This is my story.”

“Dear readers,
My name is Finn Lucas, and on January 19, 2025, I died in Kiel – at 13 years old, from a stab to the heart. My mother and I were ignored, the perpetrators were given legal counsel.

This is my story.

Since last year, I had been repeatedly humiliated and beaten by… pic.twitter.com/Qq173PE7sD

— Martin Sellner (@Martin_Sellner) September 27, 2025

Describing the attack, the boy wrote, “”The blows were deliberate and brutal. Eventually, I lost consciousness. As I slowly came to and tried to get up, I was struck by a hard kick in the face. I lost my weak footing and collapsed unconscious again. I never felt the fatal stab to my heart.”

He went on to describe the trauma he now lives with, both physical and psychological, as well as his family’s struggle to find help and support: “To this day, no one from the city of Kiel has reached out to us, offered help, or support. The perpetrators immediately received legal representation, and five of the seven were released from pre-trial detention after just three days. I myself live in fear and do not know how my life can go on.”

The letter, ending with the question, “Why are perpetrators protected, but not the victims?”