An 11-year-old boy accused of stabbing two Martin Middle School students told authorities the victims had been bullying him about his small size.

He is charged with battery with a deadly weapon for wounding the two boys and was before Judge William Voy in Family Court on Monday as Voy decided where to put him until the court determines his fate.

Shackled and wearing the juvenile detention-issued blue sweat pants and orange shirt, the 4-foot-tall sixth-grader's face lit up when he saw his mother, grandmother and other relatives in Voy's courtroom. He has been in the juvenile detention center since last week.

He didn't cry and his facial features remained relaxed throughout Monday's hearing.

Voy told him that he suspects the boy will have problems with people picking on him for the rest of his life.

"There are ways of dealing with that without doing what you did, and it can't ever happen again," Voy told him.

Voy opted to place the boy in a group home for children in Henderson, with the hope that he can be reunited with his grandmother once Child Protective Services is set to provide the appropriate social services to the family. At that point, the boy will be put under house arrest.

Tim Woods, a probation officer, objected to the boy's placement with the grandmother because she lives about three blocks from both victims. Woods said the GPS tracking device that the boy is to wear while under house arrest would not be enough to guarantee public safety. The prosecutor also argued against returning the boy to his grandmother's house.

The boy has lived with his grandmother since January. She sat beside him in court listening to the proceedings with the help of a Spanish-speaking translator. The reasons why the boy does not live with his mother were not discussed.

The boy told authorities he had fought with the two victims on Sept. 22, a Friday. They had teased him about his size, he said.

On Sept. 25, the following Monday, they had followed him home from school and an adult had to intervene to prevent a fight, the boy said. The next morning, he took his grandmother's pocketknife and hid it in a bush on the way to school for protection.

When the boys followed him home again that afternoon, he ran for the knife and stabbed one student in the side and punctured the other in the hand.

"You take that scenario versus the scenario of him just jumping these kids ... there's quite a difference between the two," Voy said.

Several students who saw the incident at Elm Avenue and 28th Street, however, said one student started the fight when he shoved another student, according to the initial police report. As the two were fighting, the student who shoved the first student, pulled out a knife and stabbed the other in the side, according to the police report.

Both victims taken to University Medical Center and were treated and released, according to school police, who said neither wound appeared life-threatening.

The boy's public defender, Bill Gonzalez, said he might contest the charges and take the case to trial to argue that the youth used the knife in self-defense.

The boy is to return to family court to enter a plea in about two weeks.