Teen arrested and cleared in father’s 2023 death is now accused of fatally stabbing his mother

A teen who was arrested and released in the fatal shooting of his father in Oklahoma last year now faces charges in the killing of his mother in Florida, authorities said Wednesday.

The 17-year-old was arrested on suspicion of fatally stabbing his mother at his grandmother’s home on Sept. 8 in Auburndale, northeast of Tampa, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd told reporters.

The teen faces charges of first-degree murder, kidnapping and violation of a no-contact order, the sheriff’s office said. NBC News does not typically name minors charged with crimes.

Judd said he is seeking to have the teen tried as an adult. It isn’t clear if he has a lawyer to speak on his behalf.

Two days before the alleged stabbing, the teen and his mother got into an argument about chores and he fled their home in nearby Charlotte County for his grandmother’s home, Judd said.

On Sept. 8, the mother went to Auburndale. The teen called 911 around 6 p.m. that day and said his mother fell on a knife after a long fight and was bleeding from the neck, Judd said. 

When deputies arrived, Judd said, the teen appeared “calm, cool and collected” and asked to speak with a lawyer.

The local medical examiner said the teen’s account was not “reasonable or plausible,” Judd said, adding that the blade on the 12-inch kitchen knife used in the alleged stabbing went to the back of the mother’s neck.

Roughly an hour and a half before the teen called 911, neighbors reported that they saw the mother and son arguing outside the grandmother’s home, Judd said. They saw the teen grab his mother by the hair and pull her inside the house, he said.

The grandmother was not home at the time, the sheriff said.

Authorities also learned the teen claimed self-defense after fatally shooting his father on Valentine’s Day last year in Lincoln County, Oklahoma, Judd said. There were no witnesses to the shooting, and the teen said he opened fire after his father pulled a knife on him, according to the sheriff.

The man was shot once in the head and once in the chest, Judd said.

State and local authorities investigated the killing and arrested the teen on suspicion of first-degree murder, but the local prosecutor’s office dropped the charges a month later, saying they could not disprove the teen’s claim, Judd said.

The district attorney’s office that handled the shooting could not immediately be reached for comment. An assistant district attorney with the office told NBC affiliate WFLA of Tampa that self-defense could not be ruled out so no charges were filed.

After the shooting, the teen went to live with his mother in Florida. He was accused of assaulting her in November and arrested, Judd said. At the time, the mother was discipling her son and took away the teen’s video game privileges, he said.

“He pushed her to the ground and he stomped on her,” he said, noting that the teen’s grandmother witnessed the assault.

The teen claimed self-defense, Judd said, but the grandmother disputed the teen’s account and he was arrested on suspicion of domestic violence battery, the sheriff’s office said.