Prosecutor to seek death penalty in killings of mother, son

(SPRINGFIELD, MO) – A Missouri prosecutor plans to seek the death penalty against a man charged with fatally stabbing his girlfriend and her 13-year-old son in a New Year’s Eve 2020 attack that left two other children injured.

Greene County Prosecutor Dan Patterson said in a legal filing that he intends to prove that 31-year-old Brandon King killed to avoid arrest, that the crimes targeted potential witnesses and were particularly brutal.

All are factors that would allow the case to qualify for the death penalty under Missouri law.