Man Tried to St@b Girlfriend During Domestic Abuse Incident, But Missed & K#lled Her Son Instead
A Minnesota man has pleaded guilty to st@bbing his girlfriend’s 13-year-old son during an argument that turned violent, according to reports.
On Wednesday, Houston Allen Morris, 39, of Olivia, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder without intent while committing a felony and an amended felony charge of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon, the West Central Tribune reports.
He had initially pleaded not guilty to two counts of second-degree murder in connection with the death of Isaac Hoff and attempted second-degree murder of his mother. As part of a plea agreement, prosecutors will drop the second second-degree murder count, KSTP reports.
The charges stem from the early morning hours of March 24, 2022, when Morris and Hoff’s mother, who has not been named, were arguing and he began assaulting her, according to the criminal complaint, KSTP reports.
They had been dating for about a year and he had just moved into her apartment two weeks earlier, the complaint says, according to the outlet.
She had received an order of protection for herself and her son on March 1, the Star Tribune reports.
During the fight, Morris str@ngled the woman before hitting her on the head with a pipe and then a metal bed frame, the criminal complaint says, the West Central Tribune reports.
In an attempt to defend herself, she grabbed a knife from under a bed but he wrested it away from her, the criminal complaint says.
In the ensuing struggle, Morris tried to st@b her with the knife but missed, the complaint says, the Star Tribune reports.
He ended up st@bbing the boy who was standing behind his mother, the complaint says, KSTP reports.
Bl€€ding from the chest where he had been st@bbed, the boy called 911 to report that Morris was att@cking his mother, prosecutors said, the Tribune reports.
When officers arrived, they found the boy lying in a pool of bl%%d on the kitchen floor. He later succumbed to his wounds at the hospital.
They found the woman’s 1-year-old daughter in the apartment, covered in blood. The woman had cuts on her head and hands and deep bite marks on one arm, the Star Tribune reports.
