17-year-old accused of murder to be tried as an adult

A 17-year-old accused of killing his mother has been indicted and will be tried as an adult.

Polk County deputies arrested Collin Griffith, who they say murdered his mother who lived in Port Charlotte.

The Polk County state attorney said the facts were there, and he had to make this decision to charge Collin Griffith as an adult.

“I made the decision to charge this 17-year-old as an adult based upon the egregious facts and circumstances of this case; charging a minor as an adult is not a decision that I take lightly,” said Brian Hass, state attorney for the Tenth Judicial Circuit of Florida.

The 17-year-old was indicted by a Polk County grand jury on the charge of first-degree murder for killing his mother in Auburndale this month.

“When you look at this, you see a kid. When I look at it, I see a psychopath,” said Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd during a press conference last week.

Griffith has a history of violent behavior.

“There been many questions involving an incident last year where Collin Griffith killed his father,” said Judd.

His grandmother told investigators that Griffith had been arrested for shooting and killing his father in Oklahoma in February 2023.

He was arrested and charged, but they were later dropped.

“His father was named Charles. He shot him once in the chest and once in the head,” said Griffith.

More than a year later, he’s behind bars for killing his mother.

Collin claimed that during an argument, his mother lunged at him with a knife and fell on it, resulting in a deep stab wound to her neck.

According to the autopsy, his mother died of a deep penetrating knife wound to the neck.

Authorities determined the stab wound to be inconsistent with an accidental injury.