A 17-year-old will be prosecuted as an adult on charges of fatally stabbing his mother in Auburndale, after killing his father a year and a half ago in alleged self-defense.
A grand jury indicted Collin Griffith of Port Charlotte on a capital felony charge of first-degree murder and kidnapping in the death of his mother, Catherine Griffith, on Thursday.
“I made the decision to charge this 17-year-old as an adult based on the egregious facts and circumstances of this case,” State Attorney Brian Haas said in a Youtube video . “Charging a minor as an adult is not a decision that I take lightly, but as state attorney is it my responsibility to do so when warranted. ”
On Sept. 8, Polk deputies responded to a 911 call about 6 p.m. off Hewlett Drive in The Hamptons senior community in Auburndale. Griffith told the 911 dispatcher he and his mother had gotten into a lengthy fight, during which his mother lunged at him with a knife and fell on it, resulting in a deep stab wound to the neck, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd sad.