Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct the relationship of the witness to the suspect.
(COLORADO SPRINGS) — A 31-year-old Colorado Springs man, who is facing a charge of Second Degree Murder after fatally stabbing his mother and an unidentified man, said his brother witnessed the entire incident, court documents show.
WARNING: Descriptions of violence, some graphic details.
According to the arrest affidavit for Cody Parker, the stabbing, which happened on Sept. 22 in the 1200 block of Dancing Horse Drive, resulted from an argument between Parker and his mother, 68-year-old Deborah Parker-Lykins.
Parker stated to a detective with the Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD), that the argument stemmed from his mother’s “verbal abuse,” and that the two were arguing because he had been in the bathroom for an extended period of time.
According to arrest documents, Parker told his mother that their arguments were having an effect on him, and that she should know people with mental health issues are prone to becoming violent because she “watched investigative shows.” The argument escalated, and the unidentified man threw a pipe from a guinea pig enclosure at Parker.
Parker said he became upset and went into the kitchen, where he grabbed a serrated knife from a butcher block and returned to where his mother was laying down, before stabbing her multiple times. Parker sustained injuries to his hand because he was holding the knife by the blade instead of the handle as he stabbed her. Parker also said his brother was in the kitchen and witnessed the entire incident and “was screaming for [him] to stop.”
Click here to read the full arrest affidavit
Parker called 911 after the stabbing around 7:15 p.m., and told dispatchers that he had stabbed his mother and the unidentified man, and that police should bring a “clean up crew.” When police arrived, they heard screaming from inside the house and had to force their way in, where they found Parker standing with a knife in his hand. Parker also had self-inflicted injuries to his wrists, and stated to police on the scene that it was “in an effort to end his life.”
When asked by a detective what his mother was doing as he was stabbing her, Parker said she was begging for mercy and asking him to stop. Parker also said he had no memory of stabbing the unidentified man, but that he saw him lying on the floor with stab wounds and assumed he was dead. The man remains unidentified by CSPD until the El Paso County Coroner’s Office can determine the cause and manner of death.
According to CSPD, when officers arrived at the home, they found Parker-Lykins and the man, suffering from life-threatening injuries. Parker-Lykins was pronounced dead at the hospital, and the man was hospitalized for several days with life-threatening injuries, where he later died on Monday, Sept. 26.
As of the filing of the arrest affidavit, Parker faced a Second Degree Murder charge for the killing of Parker-Lykins, and First Degree Assault and Second Degree Attempted Murder for the assault on the unidentified man. However, because the unidentified man has since died of his injuries, police said charges would be amended to include the man’s murder.
