Logan County teen admits to stabbing mother

After confessing to stabbing his mother while she was in her bed, a Logan County teen is facing a murder charge.

Police say Brycen Caudill, 16, called 911 to turn himself in late Friday morning and told dispatchers he had stabbed his mother, Crystal, 36, earlier that morning.

“He might not have known she was dead,” said Logan County Sheriff Randall Dodds.

Police say Caudill attacked his mother between 6:30 and 7 a.m. while she was in the bed of her downstairs bedroom at their home in the 200 block of East Miami Street in De Graff.

Crystal Caudill escaped and ran to a neighbor’s house, where she called police and said her son had stabbed her, Dodds said.

Crystal Caudill was transported to Mary Rutan Hospital, where she later died from the stab wounds.

Police tracked Brycen Caudill, who had fled the scene, by cellphone to a railroad track in southeast De Graff, but they were unable to locate him.

It appears that Caudill walked south down the tracks for at least 10 miles, ending up in Champaign County, Dodds said. There he approached a stranger and asked for a phone, which he used to call 911 and turn himself in.

Caudill is currently being held at the Logan County Juvenile Detention Center on one delinquent count of murder. His initial court hearing will take place within a week, Dodds said.

At this time, police do not know what Caudill’s motive might have been. Dodds said Caudill did not have previous run-ins with the law and was a good student.

“It’s tragic for all involved. Tragic for Logan County. Tragic for the Caudill family,” Dodds said.

jmogan@dispatch.com @jerrodamogan