Teenager charged with attempted murder to appear at preliminary hearing June 21

GILLETTE, Wyo. — A 17-year-old boy accused of stabbing his mother will appear for a preliminary hearing next week on a charge of attempted first-degree murder, according to Campbell County court records.

Tharles O. Smith, 17, is charged with attempted first-degree murder, with prosecutors alleging he stabbed his sleeping mother in the back with a 13-inch kitchen knife on Ridge Way Road around 11:45 p.m. June, according to an affidavit. of probable cause filed in the case.

Smith's mother, a 41-year-old woman, reportedly called for help moments after the attack and told responding officers that she had been stabbed in the back by her 17-year-old son while she was sleeping. She was found lying in bed with the knife protruding from her back, and she was rescued to receive emergency medical treatment, the affidavit states.

After being taken to the Campbell County Sheriff's Office for an interview, Smith told an investigator that he and his family had recently argued about him having to leave their home for not following the rules, according to court documents.

Smith told the investigator the argument made him angry, so angry he couldn't sleep and felt like his parents were trying to get rid of him, according to the affidavit. After everyone went to bed that night, the 17-year-old went to the kitchen and retrieved a knife. He then entered his mother's dark room where she was sleeping.

“So, without saying a word, [Smith] indicated that he jumped on his mother and forcibly stabbed her in the back with the knife one time,” the affidavit states. “[Smith] described holding the knife with the blade facing down and away from his hand.

According to the affidavit, the 41-year-old woman thought Smith had hit her and asked him why he did it. The 17-year-old told her he had stabbed her and that she had a knife in her back. He tried to leave because he “didn't want to see his mother die,” but she convinced him to stay with her until emergency responders arrived, according to the affidavit.

The knife blade penetrated and fractured the 41-year-old woman's left shoulder blade and damaged her lung. A doctor estimated the blade had penetrated two-thirds of her chest cavity and told deputies the woman was lucky to have survived considering the location and manner of the stab wound. , according to the affidavit.

A preliminary hearing has been set for June 21, during which a Circuit Court judge will determine whether there is sufficient probable cause to send Smith's case back to district court for further proceedings, according to court documents.

According to Wyoming state statute, attempted first-degree murder is punishable by up to life imprisonment, a $10,000 fine, or both.