Pottstown man arrested for stabbing his mother

POTTSTOWN A 23-year-old man was arrested Wednesday for stabbing his mother multiple times in their Pottstown home for no apparent reason, police said.

Jason James Payne stabbed his mother, Pamela, with a large kitchen knife in both arms, the back of her right shoulder and her right breast Wednesday night in the 100 block of Third Street, police said. Pamela Payne was flown to Lehigh Valley Trauma Center with four stab wounds. On Thursday, she was in stable condition and expected to be released that day.

Jason Payne faces charges of attempted first-degree murder, aggravated assault and related charges.

He told police he and his mother had not argued before the stabbing. His younger sister told police their mother was facing away from Payne when he approached with the knife. His sister yelled a warning to her mother, who was standing next to her.

Payne's younger brother told police that he, his sister and their mother ran into the bathroom after the attack. When Jason Payne was upstairs changing out of his blood stained clothes, the rest of his family ran to a neighbor's house. Payne waited downstairs for police to arrive.

- Michaelle Bond