REEFER MADNESS

May 8, 2004 -- A schizophrenic Brooklyn man high on marijuana brutally
attacked his immigrant mom with a kitchen knife yesterday, leaving her
naked and bleeding on a neighbor's lawn with multiple stab wounds,
police and residents said.

"She was shouting 'Help me! Help me! My son's killing me!' " said
witness Nadine Lewis, 38.

The victim, 47-year-old Yvonne Stewart of East 103rd Street in
Canarsie, was in critical condition at Brookdale Hospital.

Cops said she was stabbed in the back and limbs by her son Kevon
Stewart, 21, who was charged with first-degree assault and weapon possession.

"She was covered in blood," said Lewis. "She fell on the grass. I
covered her with a sheet and said, 'Don't close your eyes. Keep awake.
You're strong.' "

The Jamaican immigrant and mother of four was "hanging by a thread,"
cops said.

Family members said Stewart, who had no prior arrests, was a
schizophrenic with a history of drug abuse.

Eyewitnesses described him as "totally deranged."

Cops caught Stewart two blocks from the scene. His shirt was covered
in his mother's blood, they said.

Neighbor Stanley Thomas, 49, described Stewart as a karate buff with
no previous record of violence.

"When he's not using marijuana, he's pretty helpful," said Thomas.
"But when he smokes, he has a problem. It changes his character."

"Looks like he smoked some weed today and cracked off again," Thomas
added.