Additional Coverage:
- Teen stabbed twin sister to death as she slept claiming he ‘sleepwalked’ into her room (themirror.com)
Texas Man Sentenced to 15 Years for Twin Sister’s Murder, Claimed Sleepwalking
A Texas man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison after a jury found him guilty of murder in the fatal stabbing of his twin sister. Benjamin Elliott, now 21, maintained throughout his trial that he was sleepwalking when he attacked Meghan Elliott in their Katy home in September 2021.
The incident occurred on September 29, 2021, when then-17-year-old Benjamin called 911, telling the operator he believed he had been dreaming when he killed his sister. “I just killed my sister,” he reportedly said during the call.
“Oh my God… I thought it was a dream.” Harris County deputies responded to the family’s home, located west of Houston, where they discovered Benjamin performing CPR on Meghan.
She was later pronounced dead at the scene.
Benjamin Elliott has consistently denied conscious intent, reiterating his love for Meghan in a 2025 interview for the CBS program “48 Hours.” “I would never have done that…
I loved her. … She was my best and closest friend,” he stated when asked how he knew he was sleepwalking at the time of the incident.
His defense attorney, Wes Rucker, posed to the jury during the week-long trial, “How could a kid who cherishes his sister, who loves her, protects her… How could someone commit a crime that heinous without a reasonable explanation?”
State prosecutors had initially sought a sentence of at least 40 years. However, following the February sentencing, they expressed satisfaction with the 15-year punishment.
Rucker also commented on the outcome, telling ABC13, “We are very happy with the sentence. We think it reflects what the judge thought was a weakness in the State’s case.
We are pleased.” The jury found Elliott guilty after five hours of deliberation but reportedly asked the judge for leniency in his sentencing.
The trial featured testimony from parasomnia experts for both the defense and prosecution. Some experts indicated that it was plausible Benjamin could have been sleepwalking during the murder.
Dr. Jerald Simmons, a neurologist who testified for the defense, expressed disagreement with the jury’s verdict, stating, “I think the jury got it wrong.
It’s totally possible. If it wasn’t possible, I would have not taken the position.
There are other cases. They are rare, but they can occur.”
Interviews for “48 Hours” also revealed a history of sleepwalking within Benjamin’s family, with a childhood friend recalling an instance of Benjamin sleep-eating a donut during a slumber party years earlier.
Conversely, prosecutors presented evidence suggesting Benjamin was lucid before the attack. They argued that his cell phone activity logged his steps to and from Meghan’s bedroom, and he appeared conscious enough to disable an alarm on his phone and to call 911. Prosecutors also contended that Benjamin used a pillow to muffle his sister’s screams.