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Two Atlanta-area brothers charged after parents attacked, stabbed

Dad distracted sons long enough for mom to call 911

Atlanta CNN  — 

Two Atlanta-area brothers remained behind bars Thursday and charged with multiple felonies after police said they attempted to kill their parents over the weekend.

Yvonne Ervin was treated then discharged Tuesday from Gwinnett Medical Center. Her husband, Zachary Ervin, was being released from the same facility Thursday, according to hospital spokeswoman Beth Hardy.

The perpetrators, she told police, were their own children: 17-year-old Cameron and 22-year-old Christopher.

“(Yvonne Ervin) stated to our 911 operator that her sons were trying to kill her and her husband,” Gwinnett County Police Sgt. Rich Long told CNN.

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But quick thinking from both mother and father enabled Yvonne to briefly escape from their sons long enough to call for help.

Yvonne Ervin called 911 and reported that she and husband Zachary were being attacked by their own sons.

Yvonne Ervin “told the 911 operator that (her husband) had distracted the sons and that she was able to call,” Gwinnett County Police Sgt. Rich Long told CNN. “That was probably the lifesaving move from this event.”

When police arrived at the Ervins’ home in this northeast Atlanta suburb of about 19,000 people, “Zachary came out of the garage and collapsed,” Long said. “He had a lot of head and body injuries from blunt force trauma and stab wounds on his back.”

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Yvonne Ervin “had blunt force trauma, but not as severe as the father,” Long said.

Gwinnett County Police booking photos of brothers Cameron, 17,  left, and Christopher Ervin, 22, arrested and charged with aggravated assault and arson in an alleged attack against their parents Yvonne and Zachary Ervin.

Police said the sons – both of whom lived at home with them, according to CNN affiliate WSB – were at the house when officers arrived, and the two were immediately arrested.

As brutal as the attack sounds, that wasn’t the full extent of it, according to police. The sons also plotted to burn the home down, and had “introduced natural gas into the house,” Long said.

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Christopher and Cameron Ervin have each been charged with two counts of felony aggravated assault and two felony counts of first degree arson, according to Long.

“There is no official motive at this point, but there has to be something more to this. I’m sure they didn’t just wake up and decide to kill their parents yesterday,” Long said on Sunday.

WSB reported the brothers were to be appointed defense attorneys Sunday, but it was not immediately clear if that had happened or who the attorneys are. Long said both suspects are expected to be in court at some point this week.

CNN’s Carma Hassan and Tony Marco contributed to this report