A mother, who was allegedly fatally stabbed by her son, posted a heartfelt message on Instagram just hours before her passing.
On Sunday, September 8, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office in Florida received a 911 call from 17-year-old Collin Griffith.
Collin reported that his mother, Catherine Griffith, had accidentally ‘fallen on a knife’ and was bleeding from her neck following an altercation between them.
Upon arriving at the scene, officers found Collin ‘cool, calm and collected,’ standing in blood-stained clothing.
He reportedly became ‘uncooperative’ and demanded an attorney when police began questioning him about the incident involving his 39-year-old mother.
The next day, a medical examiner conducted an autopsy on Catherine and determined that a deep knife wound to the neck caused her death.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd stated at a press conference: “The medical examiner said it is not reasonable or plausible that she died the way that [her son] said she did.”
Collin has since been arrested and charged with first-degree murder.
On the day she died, Catherine posted a haunting photo on Instagram about an ‘old familiar body ache.’
She shared an image of a bridge and wrote: “That old familiar body ache, The snaps from the same little breaks in your soul. You know when it’s time to go… Sometimes, givin’ up is the strong thing.”
The caption is a line from Taylor Swift’s 2020 song ‘it’s time to go’.
Catherine’s death comes 18 months after Collin allegedly fatally shot his father, Charles Griffith.
Collin shot his father ‘in self-defense’ on February 14, 2023, after an argument escalated, according to Adam Panter, the district attorney for Oklahoma’s 23rd District.
At the time, there was ‘probable cause to believe the defendant, the youth, committed first-degree murder,’ as per an affidavit.
He was initially charged with first-degree murder, but the charges were later dropped as investigators could not rule out self-defense and therefore did not formally file any charges.
Collin had been living in Oklahoma then and, after his father’s death, moved to Florida to live with his mother and grandmother.
According to his grandmother, Collin had a history of being verbally and physically abusive to his late mother.
Speaking to WFLA, she mentioned that the teen ‘has problems.’
Sheriff Judd noted that despite Collin’s age, he would be tried as an adult.