People v. Bryant CA3

BACKGROUND

Bryant lived in a trailer parked in his parents’ driveway. His parents believed he had schizophrenia. One evening, Bryant joined his parents for dinner. Bryant argued with his parents because he wanted them to buy him a sports car. After dinner, Bryant stabbed his father with a knife and garden stake. Bryant’s mother heard a struggle, saw her husband on the floor, and tried to call 911, but passed out after Bryant hit her in the head. When she woke up, she tried to call 911 again. While she was speaking with a dispatcher, Bryant attacked her again. Bryant stabbed her with a hose guide, which she explained is a stake used to hold a garden hose in place, and she passed out. When Bryant’s mother woke up, she was in the hospital, and her husband had died. Police interviewed Bryant after they apprehended him hiding in his parents’ backyard. In the interview, Bryant said that his father “got in [his] face” and threatened to call the police. As a result, Bryant started “formulating . . . an out.” He stabbed both parents in the chest and said that he was “trying to get [his father] to fucking die.” He answered affirmatively when asked if he was trying to kill his mother.…