NewsCentral & Southern Arizona NewsTucson News

Actions

Tucson 13-year-old kills mom over video games, police say

Report says teen attacked mother with knife
tucson stabbing
Posted at 8:56 AM, Jan 17, 2022
and last updated 2022-01-17 11:10:52-05

TUCSON, AZ (KGUN) — Tucson Police say a 13-year-old boy stabbed his mother to death—and admitted he attacked her in a fight over video games.

In a Rita Ranch neighborhood around 9 p.m. Tuesday, a woman ran up to her neighbor. She was bleeding from cuts to her throat. Mary Ainuu said her 13-year-old son had attacked her.

A sworn statement by Tucson Police fills in the details.

It says officers found the boy not far from his house. Police say he told them he’d argued with his mother about video games.

Then he went to the kitchen, got a butcher knife, and sharpened it.

He told police he found his mother in the living room and hit her in the head with a five-pound exercise weight before stabbing her eight or nine times as she tried to escape.

Mary Ainuu was able to reach a neighbor, who called 911. A Tucson Fire Ambulance rushed her to St. Joseph’s Hospital but she died about three and a half hours after the attack began.

A spokesperson for Pima County Attorney Laura Conover says the case will be reviewed before there’s a decision on whether the teen will be charged as an adult.

State law says in first-degree murder cases, minors aged 15 and older shall be charged as adults, and minors at least 14 years old may be charged as an adult.