A man accused of killing his own mother has pleaded not guilty in a Renton, Washington, case that has shaken the community. Christopher Mott, 42, appeared in court on Tuesday and entered his plea to charges that he stabbed his mother, Colleen McHugh, to death on August 3rd. Only a week earlier, crime scene tape had been wrapped around the apartments where his mother lived.
According to court documents, the attack was brutal. Prosecutors say Mott engaged in a knife attack on his mother, stabbing her multiple times and killing her. The details laid out in the filings describe a sustained assault rather than a single blow, underscoring the violence that investigators say unfolded inside the building where McHugh lived.
Court records also describe how Mott is alleged to have reached his mother. Investigators say he got inside her apartment by smashing the glass doors of the building, forcing his way in before the deadly assault took place. That account frames the case not only as a killing but as a break-in, a distinction that is reflected in the formal charges he now faces.
The violence did not end with the attack on his mother. Police say Mott tried to get away from the scene, and that during the ensuing scuffle he stabbed a Renton police officer in the eye and face. The confrontation left the officer seriously hurt and turned an already grim domestic killing into an assault on law enforcement as well.
Perhaps the most chilling detail comes from the moment of his arrest. According to court records, as police took him into custody, Mott admitted to killing his mother and stated that, in his words, it felt great. That reported statement has become a central and disturbing element of the case as it moves toward trial.
Prosecutors have charged Mott with murder in the first degree and burglary in the first degree in connection with the attack. The pairing of the two charges reflects both the killing itself and the allegation that he broke into the building to reach his mother, and it sets the stage for the case that will now play out in court.
The Renton police officer who was stabbed is recovering at home, according to police. They said the healing process is slow but that the officer is on the mend, and when asked whether he had lost his vision, they responded that it was too early to tell. A trial in the case has been scheduled for October 5th.
