A 911 operator received a call on February 22, 2025, from a Michigan mom confessing to her son’s murder on his birthday eve.
Katie Lee, 40, told the operator, “We need an officer here immediately. My son won’t stop breathing.” The operator could not believe it, so she confirmed what Lee had just said.
She told the operator, “I didn’t do this out of hatred; it was out of love,” adding that her son did not want to turn 18, so she promised to kill him and then herself.
On the call, she admitted having a knife, saying, “It was supposed to just be easy, and he was just going to go to sleep, and it didn’t work, and he kept telling me not to let him go to the hospital.”
Upon arrival, police found Lee, still on call with the 911 dispatcher, holding a large knife at the doorstep.
In the bodycam footage posted by YouTube channel Law&Crime Network, officers can be seen asking her to drop the knife, but she does not comply. Officers proceed to tase and handcuff her. Inside, officers found the body of the 17-year-old Austin Dean Pikaart.
Unlike any other murder story with a strong motive, this incident witnessed a mother growing paranoid and isolated when the COVID pandemic hit. She worried about the FBI watching her and bugs inside her home. Moreover, it was revealed that it was the content she was watching on her social media that motivated her to kill her son. She was depressed and had dark thoughts about the state of the world.
In court, she accepted that her behavior impacted her son’s decision when he did not want to turn 18. They both made a tragic agreement to die. Before killing her son, she had also given him sedatives.
Lee pleaded guilty to charges of torturing and murdering her teenage son to avoid a trial. She could have gotten a life sentence if convicted. The court sentenced her to between 60 and 90 years in prison on second-degree murder charges.
During her trial in court, she apologized to the 911 dispatchers, first responders, and detectives. She said, “I would like to apologize to the first responders who had to process that night and the ones I held the knife up to. I’m sorry. It was unfair of me to put you in that position. I’m sorry to the detectives for the unanswered questions and to the hospital staff for being so angry. You saved my life.”
Furthermore, she extended her apology to the prosecutor and the community. She was in tears during the sentencing while apologizing to her friends and family. Lee blamed her mental health, paranoia, and shame for getting help that led to such unfortunate events. In 2020, the pandemic isolation added to her mental struggles that impacted her teen son.
The bodycam footage and courtroom video has amassed over 513K views. One viewer described the incident as a nightmare. Another viewer commented, “If she’d been committed to a mental health institution, this would’ve been prevented.”
One viewer appreciated the first responder: “The 911 operator did a great job.” “She probably terrorized him with her paranoia and radical ideas and made him mentally defeated with her pessimistic views. What a terrible form of abuse. I hate that he didn’t tell anyone how he felt,” added another viewer.
Disclaimer: The Inquisitr could not independently confirm the facts of this incident and is reporting based on the information available within the public video record.
