Zachary Hayes told Blount County Sheriff’s Office investigators that he sat down to finish a show after fatally stabbing his mother in her home Sept. 7.
Shown by prosecutors at a preliminary hearing Tuesday morning, Jan. 30, the video of Hayes’ pre-booking interview with investigators documented the conversation between law enforcement and the 25-year-old Knoxville resident just before they leveled numerous homicide-related charges against him in September. Hayes, appearing in a room of the Blount County Correctional facility, told deputies he couldn’t think of a particular motivation for hurting his mother.
“I was not looking forward to it, planning it,” he said in the video.
But over several hours of video, Hayes told investigators he had stabbed his mother, 63-year-old Kimberly Hayes, while she was watching a TV in her living room. Then, he said, he had a drink and finished watching a show before turning in for the night.
Blount County General Sessions Judge Robert Headrick sent his case to a grand jury Tuesday.