A teen who is accused of stabbing and killing his father in Essex on Saturday morning told police that he stabbed him to stop him from seriously hurting or killing the father's girlfriend, according to court documents.
Matthew Craig, 18, is accused of stabbing father and has been charged with manslaughter in the first degree.
In a 911 call just before 1 a.m. Saturday, Craig said his father and his father's girlfriend had been fighting, which resulted in him stabbing his 36-year-old father in the back several times, according to court documents.
Documents show that the 30-year-old girlfriend told police that she was hurt during the assault and was hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries. She reported that her 9-year-old daughter was in the bedroom asleep during the incident, according to authorities.
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Craig's father hadn't been taking prescribed medication for bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, according to court documents. He and his girlfriend had reportedly broken up, and the woman said he wanted to come get his belongings, but she said no because her child was home, documents show.
That's when he came inside the house unannounced, the girlfriend told police. A fight broke out between the two, and Craig and his 18-year-old girlfriend, who were visiting at the time, tried to intervene, according to court documents.
Police were told that the fight escalated, and that's when Craig allegedly jumped in and stabbed his father multiple times, resulting in his death.
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Craig called 911 to report the stabbing. His attorney brought up that point to the judge in court on Monday.
“The fact that he called the police. The fact that he tried performing CPR on his father. The fact that he gave first aid including putting pressure on the wounds. The fact that he was trying to save his dad’s life after this horrible thing happened are all indications that he understands the gravity of this,” said Craig’s attorney, Richard Gudis.
Documents show that Craig's relative had previously threatened to kill all three of them. He has also been very aggressive and combative towards family members in the past, according to court documents.
Craig's girlfriend told police that he stabbed his relative with a hunting knife, "in order to protect the witness from being further assaulted by the victim." She alleged that she told Craig to stop but he didn't listen, according to court documents.
Craig's father has a criminal history including charges for strangulation, risk of injury to a child and more, according to authorities.
Craig was originally held on $250,000 bond, but the judge lowered the bond amount to $50,000 on Monday.
