Teen boy ‘kills female neighbor in hot tub to see what stabbing is like’
A teenage boy allegedly knifed his 62-year-old female neighbor to death in her bathtub and said he did it to experience what it was like to stab someone.
The 15-year-old boy was arrested on Monday, nine days after Dana Magnuson was discovered with several stab wounds in a shed in her backyard in Hockley, Texas.
Investigators believe that Magnuson was first attacked in a hot tub behind her home on July 20. There appeared to be a struggle that ensued from the tub to the home and finally the shed where her body was found in the evening, according to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office.
The teen, whose identity has not been released due to his age, told investigators he wanted ‘to see what it was like to stab someone’, sources told ABC13.
His lawyer, Jon Stephenson, called him ‘a good kid from a good family’.
‘We only have preliminary reports, and a petition has yet to be filed by the State. We look forward to seeing the evidence they actually have,’ stated Stephenson.
‘We are working to figure out what really happened.’
The teen was booked into Harris County Juvenile Detention Center, according to Sheriff Ed Gonzalez.
It was not immediately known of the teen will be tried as an adult.
Magnuson’s son, Tyler Pitney, said his mother ‘tragically murdered and stabbed to death’ while gardening in her yard.
‘She left behind her two sons, her beloved dog, Mickey, and SO many other friends and people that loved her,’ he wrote on a GoFundMe page for her funeral expenses.
‘Anyone who knew my mom, knows that she loved everybody and would give the shirt off her back or the shoes off her feet for just about any body in need-especially her friends and family.’
Magnuson was ‘an active community member and beloved by everyone who knew her’, Gonzalez wrote on Facebook.
‘Condolences go out to the victim’s family and all persons impacted by this tragic death,’ he said.
‘Our team has been working tirelessly on the follow-up investigation and will continue to do so until her killer is identified and brought to justice.’
The killing happened in a quiet neighborhood in northwest Harris County close to FM 2920. Hockley is about 40 miles northwest of Houston.
Anyone with information on the crime is asked to contact the sheriff’s office.
The GoFundMe page had raised more than $1,300 as of Thursday afternoon.
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