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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 courageous teenager is being celebrated as a hero after stepping in to defend a woman and her daughter from an alleged harasser in Kentucky.
According to records from the Louisville Metro Department of Corrections, 45-year-old Vasilis Sakellaridis faces charges including first-degree assault, first-degree fleeing or evading police, second-degree disorderly conduct, and public intoxication. He is accused of stabbing 15-year-old Da’Jon Hayes-Burr during the incident.
Kristyn Stasel shared with WLKY, a local CBS affiliate, that she and her 12-year-old daughter were leaving the Thunder Over Louisville fireworks event in Louisville, Kentucky, on Saturday. While heading to their car, a man allegedly approached them.
Stasel recounted that the man, allegedly Sakellaridis, made an inappropriate comment about her daughter. When she pointed out her daughter’s age, he reportedly responded, “Never too young to have some fun.”
In response, Stasel said, “I flipped, and I just started screaming as loud as I could,” hoping to attract attention. She screamed, “pedophile, pedophile,” trying to alert others. Instead of fleeing, the man allegedly charged at her.
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.