Police say the same suspect was also accused in a hammer attack earlier that day.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — A 13-year-old boy who was visiting Daytona Beach with his parents was slashed in the neck during an unprovoked attack on Valentine’s Day, and the man accused in the case is now facing an added aggravated battery charge tied to a separate hammer attack earlier that morning, police said.
The boy, Sullivan Clarke, survived after receiving 13 stitches, and his family has said doctors told them the wound could have been deadly if it had been slightly deeper. The suspect, Jermaine Long, is being held at the Volusia County Branch Jail without bond after investigators said they gathered enough evidence to charge him in two violent incidents from the same day.
The slashing happened late on Feb. 14 near the busy beachside strip that draws visitors during race weekend. Clarke’s parents said they were walking along Ocean Avenue in Daytona Beach when a man approached their son from behind and cut his throat. Clarke later described the moment as confusing and frightening. “I didn’t really know what was going on,” he said in an interview aired by local television. His mother, Lori Clarke, said she noticed the man’s expression just before the attack and first thought someone was trying to steal the teen’s phone, according to her account given in a WESH 2 interview.
Police said officers responded to 18 S. Ocean Ave. after receiving reports of a stabbing. Investigators said witnesses provided statements, the victim cooperated, and officers found physical evidence at the scene. Those details gave officers legal grounds to arrest Long for aggravated battery, police said. Long later entered a not guilty plea in the cases, and his attorney said Long maintains he is innocent. “My client has indicated that he’s innocent,” the attorney said in an interview aired by WESH 2.
As the teen recovered, the case widened beyond the boardwalk attack. Police said Long had been encountered by officers earlier on Feb. 14, first at about 7:58 a.m. when a property owner asked that he be removed from a home. Officers issued a trespass warning and released him because they did not have enough evidence to arrest him at that time, police said. A few hours later, at about 11:30 a.m., officers responded to a disturbance at a 7-Eleven at 35 S. Atlantic Ave., where Long was accused of hitting someone in the head with a hammer after an argument, police said.
In that morning incident, officers spoke with both parties, but the alleged victim did not fully cooperate, leaving investigators without enough evidence to justify an immediate arrest, the department said. A store clerk asked officers to trespass Long from the location because of a prior retail theft issue, police said, adding that the reported victim did not have major injuries. After Long was arrested later that night for the slashing, investigators reviewed the earlier hammer report again and worked with the State Attorney’s Office. Police said that review led to an additional aggravated battery charge based on the overall evidence, even without the victim’s cooperation.
The sequence of events has brought renewed attention to how quickly investigations can shift when witnesses are frightened, injured, or unwilling to participate, and to how officers decide whether they have enough facts to make an arrest. Daytona Beach police said they have started an internal review of how the three Valentine’s Day contacts were handled, calling it standard practice for complex cases. The department also said it will not release body-worn camera footage while the investigations and prosecutions remain active, citing exemptions under Florida public records law for ongoing criminal cases.
Long’s background has also drawn scrutiny. WESH 2 reported he is a registered sex offender and has a criminal history that includes drugs and battery. Police and WESH 2 also reported that Long’s most recent arrest before the Valentine’s Day cases stemmed from a January incident in Daytona Beach in which he was accused of chasing two men with a wooden pole and cutting one in the face with a knife. Prosecutors did not pursue charges in that January case at the time, and Long was released. After the February arrests, the State Attorney’s Office said it is reviewing that earlier case, WESH 2 reported.
For Clarke’s family, the focus has remained on the split-second violence and the recovery that followed. They have said the boy was walking only a short distance from them when he was attacked and that the family rushed to get help as blood spread across his neck and shirt. The teen has described pain followed by a rush of adrenaline, and his parents have said the emotional shock has been lasting even as the physical wound healed.
Long remains jailed without bond as the aggravated battery cases move through the court system, and police have said further details will be limited until the internal review is complete. The next major milestones are expected to come through court hearings and filings tied to both aggravated battery charges.
Author note: Last updated February 20, 2026.