Woman faces trial for stabbing death
PERKIOMEN TWP. » A woman accused of brutally stabbing her mother to death inside their home will stand trial on murder charges.
Elena C. House-Hay, 21, who was arrested last month for the stabbing death of her mother, 54-year-old Annette E. House, waived her preliminary hearing Tuesday and will head to trial in Montgomery County Court.
The alleged attack took place inside the home the two women shared in the 400 block of Abbey Lane in Perkiomen Township on July 21, according to state police. House-Hay called 911 around 3:18 a.m. to report the stabbing, according to police.
House-Hay initially told police she was asleep when she heard her mother scream, police said. The daughter then said she saw “a male in a gray sweatshirt flee from the scene,” but could not provide further details, police said.
Police found Annette House unresponsive on the second-floor bedroom with a wooden-handled kitchen knife in her chest that state troopers said “appeared to be consistent with knives located inside a knife block in the kitchen,” according to the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office.
An autopsy performed by Dr. Khalil Wardak of the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office deter-
mined that Annette House died as a result of multiple stab wounds. The coroner ruled the manner of death as homicide.
During the investigation, House-Hay gave conflicting accounts to various police officers and troopers about what occurred prior to her mother being stabbed, according to court documents. One of the state troopers who interviewed her observed what appeared to be blood on House-Hay’s clothing in the areas of her left chest, and left thigh, arms and hands, court papers state.
The trooper also stated he observed a laceration on House-Hay’s left hand that was wrapped in a blood-soaked bandage.
When a trooper asked her what happened to her hand, House-Hay responded, “I tried to help her, she tried to grab me,” according to court papers.
House-Hay told a trooper that she had a fight with her mother earlier in the night regarding House-Hay’s treatment for bipolar disorder, according to the affidavit of probable cause.
Following the investigation, State Police at Skippack and the Montgomery County Detective Bureau arrested House-Hay on charges of first-degree murder, third-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter and possession of a weapon. Bail was denied.
She is being held at Montgomery County Correctional Facility and is scheduled for a formal arraignment on Oct. 11.