Man Kills Grandmother Using Hammer, Gets 30-Year Prison Sentence

Farmington, Minnesota -- A 42-year-old man in Minnesota has been handed a 30-year prison sentence for killing his grandmother in 2015.

On Friday, Timothy Steele was sentenced to 366 months in prison in connection with the death of 84-year-old Agnes Wagner-Steele in October 2015, KSTP-TV reported.

Police were called to a Farmington, Minnesota, home shortly before midnight the night of Oct. 15, 2015, after a woman said she found that her mother, Wagner-Steele, was unconscious and appeared to be dead due to the caller’s son hitting the elderly woman with a hammer, according to a criminal complaint cited by the outlet.

When authorities arrived, they found Steele sitting in the living room. Steele then told an officer, “I killed my grandmother” and then told officers it happened “two, maybe three hours ago,” the complaint stated.

Steele told officers he was upset with his grandmother because she caused a hole in one of his jackets and was blowing her nose at dinner. He also told investigators he was hearing voices.

The complaint said Steele hit the victim seven to eight times in the head with a hammer.

Afterward, Steele said the voices he heard in his head told him he “was a terrible criminal,” according to court documents.

Steele was convicted of intentional second-degree murder in November 2021. He originally pleaded not guilty by reason of mental illness, but a Dakota County judge later found he failed to meet the burden of proof and convicted him.

The 42-year-old man will be housed under a current civil commitment as mentally ill and dangerous and will receive treatment until he can be placed in the prison system.

“Sadly, this is a tragic and extreme example of what can occur when a person’s mental illness disorder is not adequately treated,” Dakota County Attorney Kathy Keena said in a statement.

In related news, a 44-year-old man was arrested and charged with murder after Texas police said he shot his 66-year-old mother and 64-year-old stepfather on July 14.

The mother was pronounced dead at the scene. The stepfather was grazed in the head but was expected to survive.

The incident happened at around 2 a.m. that day at the home of the victims, whose names were not disclosed, in San Antonio, Texas, the Charlotte Observer reported.

Police said the unnamed suspect arrived at the residence armed with a gun after he was evicted from another home, WOAI reported. Authorities called the shooting “a random act of violence.”

After the shooting, the suspect fled but was caught “in the general area,” according to a police report.

The suspect’s 9-year-old daughter, who was living with her grandparents at the time, witnessed the incident. She was not injured, police said.