Authorities have charged a 17-year-old Florida teen with first-degree murder of his mother a year after he was accused and absolved of killing his father.
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Florida Teen Charged With Killing His Mother
PEOPLE reports that Catherine Griffith, 39, died after a stabbing in her mother’s home in Auburndale, Florida home on September 8, per the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
The outlet says 17-year-old Collin Griffith claimed his mother died after falling on a knife during their argument.
At a press conference, Sheriff Grady Judd recounted Collin’s exact words from the 911 call.
“He said he and his mother had a very long fight, and she fell on the knife and… she is bleeding from the neck,” Sheriff Judd stated.
Sheriff Judd said Collin Griffith and Catherine lived in Charlotte County but were staying at Catherine’s mother’s house.
Sheriff Judd explained that responding authorities found the Florida teen calm and composed despite noticing blood on him.
Per The Miami Herald, Sheriff Judd announced on (Sept. 11) that Collin Griffith now faces a first-degree murder charge for his mother’s death. The sheriff’s office has asked the state attorney’s office to prosecute him as an adult.
Witnesses reported seeing Collin grab his mother by the hair and drag her inside the home while she cried for him to stop.
“His mother repeatedly pled with Collin to ‘let me go,'” the sheriff’s office alleged, based on witnesses’ accounts.
More Details On Collin Griffith & What Happened To His Father
Sherriff Grady Judd also stated that Collin Griffith has faced accusations of killing a parent before.
According to Tampa Bay’s MOR-TV, deputies from the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office in Oklahoma received a call on February 14, 2023, from Collin Griffith, who reported that he had shot his father, Charles Griffith.
Collin claimed he and his father had argued, with his father pulling a knife and chasing him through the house. Cornered in the bedroom, Collin said he grabbed a gun and shot his father twice, hitting him once in the head and once in the chest.
Per PEOPLE, Collin faced first-degree murder charges for his father’s death, but authorities dropped the charges a month later, failing to “disprove of Collin’s claim of self-defense.”
