‘A family tragedy’: Perkiomen woman admits to fatally stabbing mother
A Perkiomen Township woman choked back tears as she told a judge she was suffering from a mental illness when she fatally stabbed her mother during an argument in their home — an incident her lawyer called, “a family tragedy.”
Elena C. House-Hay, 22, of the 400 block of Abbey Lane, pleaded guilty but mentally ill in Montgomery County Court on Wednesday to a felony charge of third-degree murder in connection with the July 21, 2017, stabbing death of her mother, 54-year-old Annette E. House, inside the Abbey Lane home they shared.
Judge William R. Carpenter accepted a plea agreement under which House-Hay was sentenced to 20 to 40 years in state prison. Referring to several reports issued by psychiatrists who evaluated House-Hay, the judge said the outcome is in conformity with the state’s guilty but mentally ill statute.
Aperson found guilty but mentally ill is sentenced to prison but is initially incarcerated in a mental institution to receive treatment. When that offender is deemed “cured,” the person must serve the balance of any sentence in prison.
The state Department of Corrections will determine where House-Hay will receive the mental health treatment.
A person determined to be guilty but mentally ill, according to state law, lacks substantial capacity either to appreciate the seriousness of their conduct or to conform their conduct to the law as a result of a mental disease.
Officials did not reveal in court the specific nature of House-Hay’s mental disease. However, her lawyer, James R. Freeman, said she has suffered mental health issues throughout her young life.
“This is obviously a terribly tragic family situation. It is a family tragedy. She has had, as I mentioned in open court, issues with mental health most of her life since her early teens. There have been numerous times of inpatient treatment and extended counseling,” Freeman said.
Third-degree murder, punishable of a maximum of 20-to-40-years in prison, is a killing committed with malice, a wickedness of disposition, a hardness of heart or a recklessness of consequences.
In exchange for the guilty plea, prosecutors withdrew a more serious first-degreemurder charge, which would have carried a life prison term. First-degree murder is an intentional killing.
Prosecutors agreed House-Hay suffered from a mental illness.
“The commonwealth felt that the mental health concerns were real enough where that plea was acceptable to us,” said Assistant District Attorney Benjamin McKenna, who prosecuted the case with First Assistant District Attorney Edward McCann Jr.
House-Hay, wearing a maroon prison jumpsuit, did not speak to reporters as she was escorted by sheriff’s deputies to and from the courtroom where her fate was revealed. But she wept frequently in court as she admitted to the crime.
Freeman said House-Hay is remorseful.
“Her mother was her lifeline. She lived with her mother. Her mother provided her with food, provided her with shelter, provided her with counseling and love and she loved her mother,” Freeman said. “A tragedy happened.”
House-Hay was supported in court by her father, her brother, her uncle and other relatives.
An investigation began about 3:18 a.m. July 21 whenH ouse-Hay called 911 to report her mother was stabbed in the chest, according to a criminal complaint. House-Hay made the call from a nearby residence on Tanglewood Drive in Limerick.
Police discovered Annette House unresponsive in a bed on the secondfloor of the home with a wooden-handled kitchen knife inserted in her chest that state troopers said “appeared to be consistent with knives located inside a knife block in the kitchen,” according to the criminal complaint filed by state police Trooper Jerrold R. Hatfield and county Detective Lieutenant James McGowan.
“Miss House-Hay was in a fight with her mother. Miss House-Hay says it was over her mental health treatment and things escalated to the point where she grabbed a large kitchen knife from a knife block in her kitchen, went to her mother’s roomand stabbed her multiple times, includ- ing the fatal wound to the chest,” McKenna alleged.
An autopsy determined Annette House died as a result of multiple stab wounds and officials noted the presence of defensive wounds on her arms, according to the arrest affidavit.
“She was in her bed, she was in her pajamas,” said McKenna, referring to the victim.
House-Hay initially told police she was asleep when she heard her mother scream. House-Hay claimed she saw a male in a grey hoodie leaving the house but could not provide further details, according to the criminal complaint.
State troopers located a bloodstained gardeningstyle glove attached to the side glass panel of the front door, blood smears on the surrounding window panel and a black flashlight on a table inside the entrance foyer of the house, according to court papers.
“Investigation revealed no signs of a struggle, theft or burglary within the residence,” Hatfield and McGowan wrote in the criminal complaint.
During the investigation, House-Hay gave conflicting accounts to various police officers 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 bloodsoaked bandage.
When a trooper asked her what happened to her hand, House-Hay initially responded, “I tried to help her, she tried to grab me,” according to the arrest affidavit.
But as troopers continued to interview her, House-Hay admitted 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.
House-Hay subsequently told authorities she obtained a right hand glove while downstairs and a knife from the kitchen prior to entering her mother’s bedroom. House-Hay told state troopers that her blood would be present on the blade portion of the knife that she took into her mother’s room.
House-Hay also said that prior to leaving the residence she obtained a large flashlight and attempted to break the front door window of the home, according to the criminal complaint.
“The commonwealth felt that the mental health concerns were real enough where that plea was acceptable to us.” — Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Benjamin McKenna “This is obviously a terribly tragic family situation. It is a family tragedy.” — defense lawyer James R. Freeman