Fifteen years. That’s what Tyler Riddle got for stabbing his girlfriend 22 times while her kids watched. While they tried to stop him. While her 12-year-old son called 911 to report his mother was bleeding out in their own home.

And honestly? I don’t know what the right number is here. I’m not sure there is one. But let me tell you what happened in that Arizona house in August 2025, because the details matter – and they’re going to stay with you.

What Her Kids Saw That Night

Tyler Riddle showed up at Erin Hume’s place. He was 34. Her boyfriend, or ex-boyfriend – the reporting isn’t totally clear on the timeline there, but what’s clear is what came next. He attacked her. Not once, not twice. Twenty-two times with a knife.

Her two sons were home. They didn’t just witness it – they tried to protect their mother. Think about that for a second. These kids literally put themselves between a grown man with a knife and their mom. Both of them got injured in the process. The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office says the kids were hurt trying to save her.

The 12-year-old – while this is all happening, while his mother is bleeding, while his brother is probably bleeding too – calls 911. Tells them his mom’s boyfriend is in the house. That she’s bleeding. Can you imagine making that call? I’ve covered crime for 15 years and that detail just… it gets me every time.

The Charges Don’t Tell the Whole Story

Riddle pleaded guilty. One count of aggravated assault. Two counts of child abuse. That last part – that’s because of what those kids went through. What they saw. What they had to do.

The sentencing happened on October 13, just a few days ago. Fifteen years in an Arizona prison. He’ll be nearly 50 when he gets out, if he serves the full term. Erin Hume will still be dealing with whatever scars – physical and otherwise – he left on her and her sons.

Here’s the thing that drives me nuts about domestic violence cases like this one. By the time it gets to 22 stab wounds, by the time kids are throwing themselves into the fight, we’re usually looking at a long history. This wasn’t the first red flag. It never is. And I’m not blaming Hume – I want to be really clear about that. Leaving an abusive relationship is complicated and dangerous and it’s not my place to judge anyone’s timeline on that.

But as a society? We failed somewhere along the way here. Before it got to knives. Before her children became witnesses and victims.

The Kids Are Victims Too

Those two child abuse counts aren’t just legal technicalities. They’re an acknowledgment of something we don’t talk about enough: when you attack someone’s parent in front of them, when you force children to become defenders, when you make a 12-year-old call 911 about his bleeding mother – that’s abuse. Direct, intentional, devastating abuse.

Those boys are going to carry this forever. Therapy might help. Time might help. But there’s no unknowing what they know now about violence, about fear, about how quickly safety can shatter.

“His mother was bleeding and her boyfriend was in their home.”

That’s what the 12-year-old told the 911 dispatcher, according to the attorney’s office. It’s such a simple sentence. So matter-of-fact. And it breaks my heart.

So Is 15 Years Enough?

I honestly don’t know. Part of me thinks nothing is enough when you do something like this. Another part of me knows that incarceration doesn’t fix whatever broke in Tyler Riddle that night. It doesn’t untrauma those kids. It doesn’t give Erin Hume her sense of safety back.

What it does do is keep him away from them. For now, that matters. For 15 years, at least, those kids won’t have to worry about running into their mom’s attacker at the grocery store. Hume won’t have to look over her shoulder wondering if he’s out.

But then what? Because he will get out eventually, probably. And guys who stab their girlfriends 22 times in front of children – they don’t usually come out of prison reformed and peacefuI. The recidivism rates on domestic violence are brutal. Not saying it’s impossible, just… the odds aren’t great.

What We’re Not Talking About

Look, every time one of these cases crosses my desk (and it’s depressingly often), I think about all the moments before. The arguments that got a little too heated. The first time he grabbed her arm too hard. The first time she made an excuse for a bruise. The first time her kids got quiet when he walked in the room.

We act like these attacks come out of nowhere. They don’t. And I’m not saying Hume should’ve known or should’ve left sooner – that’s not what this is about. I’m saying our systems for identifying and intervening in domestic violence are a joke. By the time we’re reading about 22 stab wounds and traumatized children, we’ve already lost.

Arizona has domestic violence resources. Every state does. But calling a hotline when your boyfriend might check your phone? Leaving when you don’t have money or family nearby or anywhere safe to go? Filing a restraining order that’s just a piece of paper against someone who’s already proven they’ll hurt you? None of that is as simple as it sounds from the outside.

Tyler Riddle made a choice that night. Twenty-two choices, actually. But somewhere before that night, we as a community – neighbors, family, friends, systems – we probably missed some chances too. And two kids paid the price for all of it.